Out of Sight
by Raven O'Connor
Summary: COMPLETE Joe Hardy met an old friend, who later is wanted for murder.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: 

This is a not-for-profit work of fiction. I don't own the Hardy Boys, but the characters Duncan Blackwell, the Bauers and other minor ones are my own trademarks. The Hardy Boys and other regular characters are copyrights or trademarks of Simon & Schuster, and other legal holders.

CHAPTER 1 

Eighteen-year-old Frank Hardy walked out of a computer store carrying a box full of used hardware. His brown eyes glanced at his wristwatch. It was almost three-thirty in the afternoon. 

"What are you going to do with all that junk anyway?" Joe Hardy, Frank's younger brother by a year, eyed the box. He scratched his blond head in puzzlement. 

Even though Joe wasn't into computers, he had decided to accompany his brother than staying at home watching TV. It was the beginning of summer, and the weather in Bayport today was warm and sunny. Just perfect for a swim, Joe thought. He vowed to go swimming some time this week with his friends. For once, it was kind of nice to have time to relax without getting involved in cases. 

"Phil wanted to use them for his work," Frank answered. 

Phil Cohen was a good friend of the Hardys. He was a whiz in computers and hi-tech gizmos. Phil was taking a summer job in one of the well-known electronic companies in Bayport. 

"I heard the pay that he's getting is huge, even for a summer intern," Joe commented. 

"Well, just enough to buy yourself a new set of PC," his brother replied, "But you're right, it's more than enough for people like us." 

Both of them walked around the corner of the block, where they had parked their black van. 

"Oof!" Someone almost knocked over Frank, but the box that he was holding fell, sending the contents scattered all over the sidewalk. 

"I'm really sorry, man!" A young man quickly apologized as he helped Frank and Joe retrieving the motherboards, hard drives, and other types of hardware into the box. 

When they were done, Frank turned to the young man. "Thanks, man," he said. 

The man gave an easy smile. "No problem, it's my fault anyway. I wasn't really looking where I was going," he assured them. He looked as if he was in a hurry – and anxious. 

The man was tall - taller than Joe's 6ft frame, and even Frank's six one. He looked about three years older than Frank. He was wearing an executive suit, with the tie hanging loose. But the suit couldn't hide his broad muscular physique. Frank didn't think the suit fitted the man. He would probably be more comfortable in jeans and leather jacket. Even the man's black hair was worn long - almost reaching the base of his neck. 

Joe's blue eyes glanced curiously at the man before smiling broadly. "Hey, you're Duncan Blackwell!" he exclaimed happily. 

The man's gray eyes studied Joe carefully. "Joe…Joe Hardy?" Duncan asked in surprise. He shook hands with the younger Hardy in a firm grip. 

"It's been a long time, man. Where've you been all this time?" Joe asked. 

"Wait a minute, I'm at lost here," Frank spoke up before Duncan could reply, holding up a hand. 

Duncan turned to Frank. "This must be Frank, isn't it?" 

"That's right," Frank replied, shaking hands with the handsome man. "But I don't think we've met before, have we?" he asked with a puzzled grin. 

"No, but Joe has told me a lot about you," Duncan replied. 

"He did, didn't he?" Frank said with a mocking glare at his brother. 

"So, what are you up to now these days?" Joe asked Duncan. 

Frank could tell that Joe was very curious even though he tried to look casual. 

"I'm working part-time at Datatronics," Duncan told him. Then he glanced around him as if searching for someone. 

"Datatronics!" Frank exclaimed. 

"You? In Datatronics?" Joe said at the same time, his mouth hanging open. He couldn't picture Duncan working in a stuffy office and in front of a computer. 

"What's wrong?" Duncan asked when he was met with their surprised looks. 

Frank knew Datatronics was one of the most prominent and successful companies in Bayport that developed hardware and software for measurement and automation systems. Phil had once told him that Datatronics was founded only five years ago. Frank felt a grudging admiration and envy for Duncan. 

"Nothing," Joe began uncomfortably, "it's kind of different from what you've done in the past." 

Frank could tell there was more to Joe's statement than meets the eye, but he decided to ask him about it later. 

"Don't worry," Duncan assured with a dismissal wave, "I found out it's what I like ever since I enrolled in Bayport U," he told them. "Then I'm going to work full time in Datatronics after I graduated." 

"Wow, you certainly have been busy," Joe remarked in surprise. 

Duncan glanced at his wristwatch and frowned. "Well, I wished we could talk longer, but I'm in a hurry," he apologized. Then he pulled out a card from his pocket and handed it to Joe. "Call me anytime if you're not too busy." 

"Thanks. I'm still staying at the same place, if you want to come over," Joe replied. 

"Great," Duncan said with a quick smile. "Nice meeting you two." With that, he quickly walked away before disappearing around the corner of the block. 

When Duncan had gone, the Hardys walked back to their van. After Frank had placed the box at the back of the van, he climbed the driver seat, started the ignition, and pulled out of the parking space. 

"Wow, Duncan is working as a software programmer," Joe announced, looking at the card that Duncan had given him. 

"You sound surprise," Frank commented, looking curiously at his brother. "How did you get to know him anyway? You never mentioned about him before." 

"I'm sure you'd be horrified if I told you that I used to hang out with a group of delinquents when I was twelve," Joe started with a small grin. 

Frank raised an eyebrow at Joe before turning back to the road. "So, that was your so-called extra-curricular activity in school," he quipped. 

"Very funny," his brother muttered. "But you know I used to hang out at the mall for skateboarding," he went on. 

Frank knew there was a skateboarding rink beside the Bayport Mall. He also remembered that his brother used to go there every weekend to skateboard when he was twelve. He had stopped doing that ever since he started high school. 

"Uh-huh," Frank said. "So, I suppose that was where you hung out with _delinquents_? And all this time I thought you were hanging out with Chet and Biff," he said, referring to their good friends, Chet Morton and Biff Hooper. He shook his head disapprovingly. 

Joe snorted. "You do meet a lot of people over there, you know," he said a little defensively. Then he grinned, "You should take a break from your chess game with your computer once in a while. That's a weird…_friend_ you have there," he added smugly. 

"You'd be surprised how much I've learned planning strategies with a _friend_," Frank argued. 

Joe ignored his remark. "Anyway, Duncan was one of the delinquents, not that I really care back then. But he was nice enough to show me how to customize my skateboard," he continued. "It was during that time that I got to know him better. I think he was nicer than the rest of his gang. He came from a broken family and lived on the seedy side of Bayport. Some of his gang was involved in drugs." 

"Mom and Dad will be freaked out if they hear this," Frank told him simply. 

"But Duncan's told me he didn't do drugs," Joe retorted. 

"And you've believed him?" his brother asked matter-of-factly. 

"Yes, and because he and a few others were the only one who weren't sent to the rehab when the police caught them for auto theft." Joe was slightly irritated by his brother's questionings. 

"And where did Duncan go if it wasn't to the rehab?" 

"I heard he had to spend a few months in a private detention facility, and after that I don't know what's happened to him," Joe said. 

"From what he's doing now, I'd say he's changed a lot," Frank remarked, turning the steering wheel toward the driveway of their home. 

"Maybe," Joe replied thoughtfully. "Sometimes living in a bad environment can make a person do desperate things to survive," he added quietly. 

Frank couldn't believe what his brother was saying. "I think Duncan has chosen a bad choice and paid for it. There are other good ways to make a living." 

"I know that," Joe retorted, "but I don't think it's as easy as you say it." He opened the door as soon as Frank pulled the van to a stop. 

Frank sighed heavily by his brother's different way of thinking. Shaking his head, he climbed out of the van and picked up the box from the back seat. 

Joe was already lounging on the sofa flipping through the channels on the TV when Frank came inside. By the look of Joe's face, Frank could guess there were no interesting programs at the moment. It wasn't until ten minutes later after Frank had deposited the box in his room that he heard Joe calling out his name frantically. 

Thinking Joe was in trouble, Frank immediately dashed down the stairs and to the living room. "What is it? Are you all right?" he asked worriedly. He glanced around the room trying to find out the trouble. Everything seemed to be fine. 

"Of course I'm all right, Frank," Joe replied, slightly impatient. 

"Then why are you calling me for?" 

"Look!" His brother pointed to the TV screen. "We've got to clear his name, Frank." 

Frank looked at where his brother was pointing. It was the four o'clock news, and at the moment it was showing a picture of Duncan Blackwell. And he was the main suspect for a murder! 


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 

Frank continued watching the news. It was the murder of Robert McGuire, a top software programmer from ElectroSoft. Frank had heard about ElectroSoft. It was the main rival of Datatronics. Unlike Datatronics, ElectroSoft produced software ranging from games to programming and it had been around longer than Datatronics. 

It seemed Duncan was the last one to be seen at the dead man's home in Bayport around 2.30 in the afternoon. The police were already putting an APB on the suspect because he was missing from work since this afternoon. 

"But we just saw him," Joe protested in disbelief. 

"Maybe he didn't want to be found out," Frank pointed out. 

"So, why did he talk to us if he is the suspect?" Joe challenged. He didn't like what Frank was implying. "I think we should check this out." 

"I don't know, Joe," Frank hedged. "You seem confident that Duncan didn't do it." 

"Of course he didn't," Joe insisted. "You don't know him as well as I do." 

"But you haven't seen him for years. How did you know that he is still the same person as before?" his brother pointed out. 

"I can't believe you, Frank. I thought you like to help people in trouble," Joe said in anger. "You're already assuming that Duncan is guilty." 

Frank sighed heavily knowing how hot-tempered Joe could be. "That's not what I meant – Hey! Where are you going?" he asked when he saw Joe grabbing his jacket and headed toward the front door. 

"To the crime scene," he replied shortly. "I'm not going to waste my time arguing with you. Are you coming?" He looked at his brother expectantly. 

Frank hesitated before going after his brother. 

*** 

After finding the address of McGuire from the phone book, the Hardys arrived at the dead man's home. His home was almost at the outskirt of Bayport in a nice section of residential area. 

A few police cars, and an ambulance were parked at the driveway of the house. A police yellow tape was already surrounded the house. A couple of uniformed police officers were controlling the small crowd and the media people that were still forming outside of the restricted zone. 

Joe parked the van across the road from McGuire's house. "Looks like Con's on the case," Joe stated nodding his head toward the direction of the house. 

Frank climbed out of the van and slammed the door shut. He saw Con Riley talking to a police officer before entering the house. 

"Great, we need the details of the case from him," Frank said. 

Officer Con Riley was a close friend of the Hardys' from the Bayport PD. Even though he sometimes was reluctant to have the boys in an official investigation, Con Riley never failed to help them. 

The Hardys crossed the road and walked toward the crime scene. McGuire's house was a one-story brick-and-wood model. It was modest looking with a nice small garden in front of the porch. Frank wondered if McGuire had a green thumb. 

Frank and Joe approached an officer who was guarding the crowd. 

"We'd like to talk to Con for a moment," Joe spoke up to the young officer. 

"Who are you?" the officer asked with a curious glance. 

"I'm Joe Hardy, and this is my brother, Frank," he told him. 

"Oh, the famous Hardy brothers. I've heard about you guys and your father, too," the officer said, referring to the boys' internationally famous father, Fenton Hardy. Mr. Hardy used to work in New York City Police Department before he quit the force to pursue work as a private investigator. "Why do you want to see him?" he asked them. 

"We might have some information on the murder. So, if you don't mind calling Con for us?" Joe asked, trying to hide his impatience. 

"Just go right inside," the officer told them. "Don't touch anything on the crime scene," he reminded them. 

"Yeah, yeah, we know the procedure," Joe replied before the boys ducked under the tape and headed toward the house. 

They stepped into the interior of the house. There were bookshelves lined against one side of the living room. A TV set was placed on a shelf aside from books that were crammed together on the other shelves. A long cream-colored sofa, and a couple of coffee tables were placed in front of the television. Books and magazines were scattered all over the sofa, tables and even on the floor. Despite the mess, the room still looked very airy and peaceful as the sun beamed through the white lacy curtains that covered the windows. 

The place was crowded with police officers. A few forensic experts were still gathering and analyzing clues. 

Frank couldn't help noticing most of the books and magazines were about programming and computers. As they walked through a hallway, they passed a room, which looked like a small computer lab. There was a white chalk mark on the blue carpet indicating where the body had been. Frank stopped Joe when he noticed Con in the room, talking with one of the officers and a middle-aged man in gray suit. 

Con frowned when he caught sight of the Hardy's walking into the room. "What are you two doing here?" he asked. "Don't tell me that you happened to be here because I don't buy it." 

"No, but Duncan happens to be one of my friends," Joe spoke up. 

"You mean Mr. Blackwell?" Con prompted, raising his brows in surprise. "We've been unsuccessful trying to locate him." 

The middle-aged man who was standing beside Con cleared his throat, interrupting the conversation. He was a nondescript man with graying blond hair and a pair of steely gray eyes. "Just who are these boys, officer?" he asked with a curious look. 

"Mr. Hayworth, meet Frank and Joe Hardy," Con told him. "Boys, this is George Hayworth. He is – or was Mr. McGuire's boss." 

The man shook hands with the Hardys. Then he frowned thoughtfully. "Say, are you related with Fenton Hardy, the detective?" Mr. Hayworth asked. 

"He's our dad," Joe told him. 

"So, what can you tell me about the suspect?" Con started asking. 

While Joe explained how he bumped into Duncan this afternoon, Frank was quietly surveying the room. It was like having a small computer lab at home. He noticed there were three powerful computers arranged in one row. At the end of the row were an up-to-date copier, scanner, printer, and fax – all rolled into one machine. Next to the machine was a small back-up system. On another side of the wall, was a ceiling-high bookcase. Instead of being filled with books, the shelves were filled with countless of CDs, floppies, printer cartridges, and other computer accessories. 

As he glanced at the computers again, Frank noticed one of the terminals was turned on. Apparently, McGuire was working on the computer before he died. Frank took a step closer to the terminal. He recognized the program on the screen. Phil had showed him once how to program in Pascal language. 

"I see Bob had been working with Lady Lovelace," Mr. Hayworth suddenly appeared beside Frank. He was looking at the monitor. 

"Huh?" Frank asked in puzzlement. 

"Lady Lovelace," Mr. Hayworth pointed to the computer that Frank had been looking at. "Bob liked to give names to his computers," he explained. "This one is Liebniz," he told him, pointing to the next computer. "And the last one is still unnamed because Bob just bought it a couple of days ago." 

"Lovelace and Liebniz?" Frank echoed. "Weren't Lady Lovelace and Liebniz had something to do with programming on calculation machines?" 

Mr. Hayworth looked impressed by Frank's knowledge. "I see you know the computer history well," he remarked with a smile. 

"It's something I learned briefly in my programming classes," Frank replied. 

"I guess some people like to name their computers, just like the people who like to give names to their favorite cars," Mr. Hayworth said with a chuckle. "And for McGuire, he was obsessed with anything that has to do with computers." 

"You must have known Mr. McGuire very well," Frank pointed out thoughtfully. 

"He was a very hard-working person in the company. He always had new ideas to put into a project. It will be a great loss for me and ElectroSoft," Mr. Hayworth looked grim at the thought of Mr. McGuire's death. 

"Were you the one who found Mr. McGuire's body?" 

"No, his housekeeper found the body when she came this afternoon to start her work," Mr. Hayworth said. "Bob was never a tidy person, so he hired a housekeeper. She comes every week on Wednesday, which happens to be today." 

That explains the small garden, Frank thought. "Where is she now?" he asked Mr. Hayworth. 

"I think Officer Riley had told her to go back after he had questioning her," he replied. "I came here because I wanted to ask Bob about a demo program he had been working on. He didn't come to work today. I thought I'd check with him in person but when I arrived, the police were already here." 

"Do you know why someone wanted to murder Mr. McGuire? Did he have any enemies?" Frank continued asking. He noticed Con Riley heading their way. 

"Well, he was well-known for his short fuse, but aside from that he was also well-known for his rivalry with Mr. Blackwell," he told Frank. 

"So, I don't think there's anything for you boys to do now," Con said when Frank was about to ask another question to Mr. Hayworth. Joe was walking beside the police officer. "Let the us handle this one." 

"I guess so," Joe said, frowning. 

Knowing they couldn't find anything more from the police, the Hardys decided to leave the scene. 

"And don't forget to call me if you hear anything more from Mr. Blackwell," Con reminded them before they walked away. 

"So, did you find out anything from Con?" Frank asked when they were already inside of their van. 

"Not much," Joe admitted. "Apparently, Duncan and McGuire's rivalry started a couple of years ago during a computer convention. Both of them had produced a program that has almost the same features." 

"I'll bet McGuire didn't like that," Frank commented as he shifted the gears and pulled out of the parking space. 

"He didn't," Joe agreed. "He thought Duncan had somehow managed to steal his ideas and produced the program as his own. After all Duncan is still trying to make a name for himself and still green in this business." 

"What about the housekeeper? Or the witness who had seen Duncan came to McGuire's home?" Frank prompted. 

"The housekeeper came around three when she saw McGuire dead in the computer room on the floor. She almost freaked out before calling the police. And there was no sign of forced entry," his brother replied. "McGuire's neighbor, Mrs. Gordon actually recognized Duncan when he came out of the house almost half an hour before the housekeeper came. Mrs. Gordon was gardening the whole afternoon, that was how she knew." 

"How did she recognize Duncan? Has she ever met him before?" Frank asked. 

"Now that's the strangest part," Joe agreed, "but get this, Duncan has talked to Mrs. Gordon a few times before when he was visiting McGuire." 

"You're right, that is strange. Why did Duncan visit McGuire when both of them were rivals?" Frank wondered out loud. 

"I think we should talk to Duncan about his visits to McGuire's house," Joe suggested. "Besides, I still don't think Duncan is the killer. Why would he show his face if he wanted to kill McGuire?" 

"I guess so," Frank admitted tactfully. He still wasn't convinced yet about Duncan. He might be Joe's friend, but they still didn't know much about the guy. "Mrs. Gordon didn't see anyone else before or after Duncan went to McGuire's house?" 

"Nope, but she did take a few minutes break from her gardening before Duncan came. Maybe that's when the killer came," Joe said. "So, what have you found out from Mr. Hayworth?" he started asking. 

"Not much," Frank replied and began telling Joe what he had been talking to Mr. Hayworth. 

They were passing through the center of town with expensive little shops lined along the street. The streets were jammed with heavy traffic. When Frank glanced at the digital clock on the dashboard, it was a few minutes after five. That would mean the office hour was over. 

"Just great, I hate traffic jams," Joe groaned as if reading his brother's mind. 

Bang! The sound suddenly echoed across the busy street. Then it followed by a series of bullets smashing against glasses, the shrill of an alarm bell, and screams of panic. 


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 

"Frank, quick! I think it came from that jewelry store," Joe urged and climbed out of the van before Frank could stop him. 

Frank killed off the engine instantly. Muttering under his breath, he vowed to himself to give Joe a hard knock on his head for acting before thinking as soon as they were out of this ordeal. 

He stepped onto the sidewalk. By this time, people were already screaming and running for their lives. Even the vehicles that were stuck in the traffic started to blare their horns in panic. Frank found himself running against the flow of the crowd. He thought he caught sight of his brother's blond head a few feet ahead of him. 

Two men in black clothes and ski masks jumped out of the store before Frank could reach his brother. They were holding large weapons in their hands. Frank couldn't make out the type of the weapon from where he was standing, but whatever it was, they were deadly. 

Joe just arrived in front of the store when two men jumped out of it. The alarm bell was still ringing. As he looked through the smashed glass door, he saw a few people were still inside the store, huddled close together nervously on the floor. Joe eyed the weapons on the robbers' hands uneasily. It looked like they had AK-47 in their hands. 

"Stay back!" one of the robbers ordered when he noticed Joe coming closer. He pointed his weapon at Joe. 

Joe instinctively raised his hand slowly and froze. The wailing of police siren was coming closer. Pedestrians nearby were clearing away from the scene in panic. Some of them froze in fear. Joe caught sight of Frank approaching nearby from the corner of his eyes. 

The two robbers were slightly distracted by the police siren. Joe took the opportunity to tackle the one who was pointing the weapon at him. 

"Ummph!" the first robber grunted in surprise when Joe caught him by the waist and tackled him to the ground. 

The second robber whipped around to look at the disturbance. He was about to point his assault rifle at Joe when Frank gave a swift karate kick toward his arm. His weapon dropped to the ground. He lunged at Frank and pushed him hard. Frank almost lost his balance, but instead of attacking Frank, the robber took the advantage to grab his friend, who was still struggling against Joe's deadlock grip. 

"Let's beat it!" the robber yelled to his friend. He kicked Joe hard at his side before he rescued his friend. 

Joe rolled over and clutched his bruised side when Frank came over him. 

"Are you all right?" his brother asked anxiously. 

"Yeah," Joe assured him. "Let's go and get them!" he urged, getting up from the ground as he continued rubbing his sore side. 

Without wasting time, the Hardys were in hot pursuit of the two robbers. Frank knew it would be hard to spot the two robbers in the crowd, who was also running away from the scene. But then, those robbers were wearing masks – that might be quite helpful - unless of course they took off their masks. 

"Do you see them?" Joe asked, dodging through the crowd. 

Frank gave a quick glance in front of him. "No, but that doesn't mean they have escaped. They must have been hiding somewhere. I don't think they could make a getaway with a car – not with this kind of traffic." 

"That's a hopeful thought," Joe said. 

But after running a couple of blocks, there were still no sign of those robbers. They even had to stop and asked the passers-by. 

"Did you see two robbers in dark clothes and ski masks running here?" Joe had asked a middle-aged woman, who was walking briskly in her high-heeled shoes. 

"They were here?" the woman asked fearfully. "Where?" she asked, glancing around nervously. 

Joe sighed. "Forget it, I think they are long gone," he said, gritting his teeth in frustration. He turned to his brother when Frank came to him. "Find anything?" 

Frank shook his head. "Someone pointed out he saw two men in black clothes entering one of the alleys. There's nobody there when I checked. Almost everyone is too panic about the shooting," he replied. "Come on, let's go back to that store. The police should already be there by now." 

By the time the boys arrived in front of the jewelry store, the police were already on the scene, picking up the rifles the robbers had left behind. Frank caught sight of Con Riley. 

"You again," Con said in surprise when he saw the brothers. "I have a feeling you were the one who tackled those robbers – judging from the description the witnesses have given me." 

"We just happened to be here, Con," Joe told him. 

"I want a statement from you two," Con said firmly. "Do you realize that some risks aren't necessary to be taken?" 

"Don't blame me, I was trying to save my brother from losing his head," Frank quipped. 

Joe just glared at his brother. "So, what have you found out, Con? Those robbers sure have big weapons for just a small robbery," he changed the subject. 

Con picked up a weapon at his feet that was already wrapped in a clear plastic bag. "I know, there has been a series of robberies these past few weeks lately – all of them were using these kind of weapons, according to the witnesses' reports. But this time we finally got hold of the evidence." 

Joe took a closer look at the weapon. "It looks like an AK-47," he reported with a puzzled frown. 

Frank leaned over and looked closer. "No, it's AK-74," he corrected his brother. "It's almost the same as AK-47 except for this," he pointed to the angled cutout shapes on the sides of the rifle. "The difference is from this muzzle break," he explained. "And this rifle fires smaller rounds." 

"OK, enough of this weaponry lesson," Joe said, waving off impatiently. "The question is where did they get them? It's not a common type over here." 

"That's what we're trying to find out. Someone must have supplied them illegally," Con told them. "We've already questioned some of the licensed suppliers here, but none of them have this weapon in their stock." 

"Nobody's going to feel safe if these robberies keep going on like this," Frank commented thoughtfully. 

"And we already have our hands full with the McGuire's murder," Con sighed. "Maybe I might need your help after all." 

Joe suppressed his grin. "We'll do all we can to help," he told Con. 

"Only when I ask for it," Con smarted back. "Now, let's get your statements." 

*** 

The next morning, Frank and Joe went to Datatronics, hoping to meet Duncan there. They were disappointed when Duncan's boss, Mr. Ben Bradley, told them that Duncan didn't come to work. 

"Did you call him at his home?" Frank inquired. He and his brother were standing in front of the reception area of Datatronics. 

"I have his home number and his cell phone number," Mr. Bradley told them. "And yes, I did call him a few times, but it seems no one's answering." 

"This is going to be a tough one," Frank said. 

"Are you two his friends?" Mr. Bradley asked, looking at the two brothers with his curious green eyes. 

"Yes," Joe replied. "I'm Joe Hardy, and this is my brother, Frank," he introduced themselves to Mr. Bradley. 

"What's your business about seeing him?" he continued asking. "I've already heard about McGuire's murder. The police even questioned me this morning before you came." 

"We're detectives and we just wanted to talk to Duncan, and maybe help him out," Joe explained. 

"It'd be a great loss to us if Duncan turns out to be a murderer – he's a good programmer, that's why we offered him a scholarship in the first place," Mr. Bradley said grimly. 

"Do you really think Duncan would do that kind of thing?" Frank asked the middle-aged man. 

Mr. Bradley looked thoughtful. "I still don't believe he would do such a thing. I know he and McGuire were rivals, but it was a healthy competition, nothing more than that. I sometimes caught Duncan playing computer games online against McGuire," he told them. 

"They played games together?" Frank asked in surprise. "That doesn't sound like they were having serious grudge against one another." 

"Oh, they were," Mr. Bradley corrected. "They even like challenging one another in playing games – to see who's the best one. I don't think Duncan will gain anything by killing McGuire." 

Frank didn't agree with Mr. Bradley's last statement. If McGuire were out of the picture, Duncan would gain a recognition that he needed. 

"Do you have his home address?" Joe spoke up. "Maybe we could see him at his home and check out on him for you." 

"Would you? That would be great," Mr. Bradley looked relieved. "I'm still waiting for the program that he has written. His deadline is today," he explained. 

"No problem, Mr. Bradley," Joe told him. "If you also have heard from him, why don't you give us a call," he said giving the man their phone numbers. 

"All right. Please wait while I get his address for you," he said before heading toward his office. 

After thanking Mr. Bradley for the address, the boys headed back to their van. 

"So, what do you think about Duncan's rivalry with McGuire?" Joe asked as soon as they climbed into the van. 

"I don't know, Joe. It's very hard to tell," Frank admitted, "but I'm still not ruling Duncan out of the suspect list." 

"You still believe he did it?" Joe asked in disbelief. "After what you just heard?" 

"What I heard wasn't a concrete proof that Duncan didn't do it," Frank told him. "I know you wanted to help Duncan, but I don't know him as well as you do. I need something more than that to convince me." 

"To convince you that he did it?" Joe prompted sarcastically. 

Frank sighed heavily. "No, to convince me that he didn't do it," he told his brother. "We need to be objective in this case, Joe. There's no use investigating if you base on your gut feeling. And Duncan isn't acting like an innocent guy if he keeps moving out of sight." 

"Hey, my gut feeling is usually right," Joe said defensively. "This time my gut feeling is absolutely sure that Duncan isn't a murderer." 

Shaking his head, Frank just jammed his keys into the ignition. 

"Let's get something to eat first," Joe said as he glanced at the clock on the dashboard. "My guts need some exercise." 

*** 

By the time the Hardys had finished their lunch at Mr. Pizza, they decided to pay a visit to Duncan. Joe waited in the van while Frank went to pay the bills. 

He had just started the van when Frank suddenly jumped in and slammed the door shut. 

"What's your problem?" Joe asked in surprise. 

"Let's go to the station right away," Frank urged. 

"What is it? Aren't you going to tell me?" Joe started to look worried. 

"I just saw something in the TV back there," Frank quickly explained. "The police have found the murder weapon in Duncan's house – and they have already put a warrant of arrest on him!"


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 

Bayport PD was an old-fashioned four-story cinderblock building. Built in the early 1920s, the building had been through a lot of restorations to preserve its authentic look. It also had been renovated a lot of times to accommodate the growing number of offices, and police officers. 

But the Hardys didn't have time to appreciate its look as they dashed up the steps in front of the main entrance. They were too preoccupied by the sudden development of the case. 

Fortunately, Con was in when the boys reached his desk. 

"What can I do for you boys?" Con asked as he looked up from his computer that he was working on. 

"We heard the news," Frank began, "You found the murder weapon in Duncan's home?" he prompted curiously. 

"That's right," he replied, "And I think we can consider the case closed as soon as we find Mr. Blackwell and arrest him." 

"But – " Joe was about to protest when Frank nudged him by the side to silence him. His brother gave him a warning glance. 

"How did you manage to find the murder weapon?" Frank asked calmly. 

"We have an anonymous tip," Con told them simply. 

"An anonymous tip?" Joe asked incredulously. 

"Was it a man or a woman?" Frank asked at the same time. 

"I'm not sure about the gender – the voice was muffled," Con explained, "but this person gave us the exact location of the weapon." 

"In Duncan's house," Frank answered. 

"Right, in his desk drawer," Con acknowledged. "We've done the ballistic tests on it and they matched with the bullet on McGuire. We've also found Mr. Blackwell's fingerprint on it, too. That's hard evidence for me." 

"Someone's setting him up!" Joe exploded. 

Con looked sharply at Joe. "And what do you mean by that?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. 

"Never mind about him, Con," Frank told the police officer. "Can you show us the evidence?" he asked. 

Con hesitated before he grudgingly agreed. He left his desk and walked across the room to a gray metal file cabinet and pulled out a drawer. He came back with a clear plastic bag that was filled with the gun. He tossed it on top of his desk. 

Frank picked it up. It was a 9mm Beretta semi-automatic pistol. 

"You find nothing else but the fingerprints there. The identification mark has been erased," Con told them as Frank carefully studied the weapon. 

"And you found the prints here?" Frank pointed to the handle of the pistol. 

"Right, just there," Con frowned. "What are you implying?" 

"Don't you think it's strange?" Frank asked. "If Duncan never bothered to clean his prints on the murder weapon, his prints should be all over the gun – even on the trigger," he pointed out slowly. 

"Maybe he's forgotten to wipe it out," Con said, with a slight hint of uncertainty. 

"A sloppy job I should say," Frank commented thoughtfully. "I still think we need to investigate more." 

"Easy for you to say, I've still got the robbery case to solve, yet," Con grumbled. 

"Don't worry, we'll cover the McGuire case for you," Joe spoke up calmly, trying not to sound too eager. 

"Maybe unofficially," Con retorted. "You'd better tell me all the info that you might have found," he reminded them sternly. 

The boys tried not to show their relief. "All right, for start, we want to know Bradley and Hayworth's whereabouts during the murder," Frank began asking. 

"I'll make it easier for you," Con said, reaching for the drawer, "I'll show you the report on the case," he pulled out a manila folder and gave it to Frank. "You may make a copy of it," he added. 

"Thanks, Con," Frank said before the boys went to make a copy of the contents of the folder. 

The boys headed back to their van after getting the file copied. Joe sat behind the wheel while Frank went through the papers. 

"It looks like both Bradley and Hayworth have alibis during the murder," Frank reported, as Joe started the van. "Bradley was having a meeting with his employees, and Hayworth had an appointment with Mr. Lee of Lee & Bauer, Inc." 

"Lee & Bauer? Who are they?" Joe asked as he maneuvered the steering wheel toward the street. 

"It's a big business company in New York, but they have their main office here in Bayport," Frank told him. "Now that I think of it, I've read somewhere that ElectroSoft is losing money. They are thinking about selling some of their shares to Lee & Bauer." 

"So, both of them had alibis, who else is the suspect besides Duncan?" Joe asked. 

"None that I see here," Frank reported as he leafed through the reports quickly. "There's an autopsy report on McGuire. He was shot by the same gun that Con had found. There are also the backgrounds of Bradley, McGuire, Hayworth, and Duncan. Except for Duncan, the rest of them have no police records." 

"We have to find out that anonymous person. He or she must have known something about this," Joe told his brother. 

"Let's take a visit to Lee & Bauer. It's a long shot, but maybe we can learn something about Hayworth's meeting with Mr. Lee," he suggested, tossing the papers into the glove compartment. 

"You know if Duncan is accused for the murder, this would make Datatronics looks bad," Joe remarked thoughtfully. 

"And ElectroSoft will have an advantage over this," Frank finished. 

But the trip to Lee & Bauer proved to be unfruitful. Mr. Lee, a middle-aged Asian man, had told them nothing more than they had already known. 

"Mr. Hayworth wanted to make a joint venture with our company," Mr. Lee had been saying, "But we're not really too hopeful about this." 

"Because of ElectroSoft's financial status?" prompted Frank. 

"Yes, and because we're already thinking about having Datatronics instead."


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 

"Well, that was a waste of time. We're back in square one," Joe commented ten minutes later as the Hardys walked across the lobby of the ten-story building of Lee & Bauer, Inc. 

"Not really," Frank corrected. "We did learn something. Lee & Bauer are interested in Datatronics despite the murder." 

"And they are not interested in ElectroSoft because of their financial status?" Joe asked incredulously. "Who's getting weird here?" 

"Maybe they are thinking in a long-term basis. After all, Datatronics has gain a lot of recognition and success, even though it's still young," Frank shrugged. 

"And Mr. Lee is very confident about the company's prospects," Joe added. 

Frank noticed two framed pictures hanging on the wall of the reception area. One was the picture of Mr. Lee and the other was of a fifty-year old man. He had dark eyes and hair with receding hairline. The latter picture was of Mr. Bauer, as Frank read the small inscription beneath the picture. 

"I think we should check McGuire's home. Maybe we'll find something the police had missed," Joe suggested. 

"We also need to check Duncan's house, too. There must be a clue of where he is right now," Frank told him. 

"Let's check Duncan's house first. After all, we've already promised Bradley that we'd check on Duncan – just in case he's there," Joe said. 

"Good idea," Frank agreed as they both climbed into the van. 

A few minutes later, they arrived in front of Duncan's house, which turned out to be a rented place. The two-story house was nicely well-kept. They met with Mrs. Streetman, a fifty-year-old woman, who was the owner of the house. After introducing themselves, the Hardys found out that Mrs. Streetman had rented the rooms in her house after her husband and son had died in a boating accident four years ago. She did that as a way to support her living. 

"So, you must have talked to the police," Frank prompted after Mrs. Streetman offered them to sit in the nice living room. They declined politely when the elderly woman offered to make some tea. 

"Yes," the woman said gravelly. "They've searched Duncan's room and found the murder weapon," she replied. "I'm still shock about the discovery." 

"You don't think that Duncan could hurt anyone, do you?" Joe asked gently. 

"For four years that he's been here, I don't believe what they have been implying in the news. I've always treated Duncan like my son," Mrs. Streetman replied. 

"Four years ago? That was about the same time as…" Frank said quietly. 

"Yes, after my husband and son died," she nodded. "Duncan came to me after he read about the ad that I've put in a newspaper. He told me that he wanted a place to stay in Bayport so that he could go to the university easier." 

"Do you know where he stayed before he came here?" Joe asked, looking intrigued. 

"He did mention that he was in a detention center before," Mrs. Streetman told them. 

"Yes, I know about that. We used to play skateboard together before the police caught him," Joe acknowledged. 

"I was very suspicious at first, of course, when he told me that," Mrs. Streetman continued, "But he promised that he wouldn't get into trouble if he stays here. I decided to give him a chance. Well, after three months, he still sticks to his words, and I guess he really has changed." 

"Do you have any other people renting the rooms here?" Frank asked, noticing how quiet the place was. 

"Not at the moment, they come and go. Duncan is the longest one," she answered. "I think you've already known that Duncan had lived in an orphanage center after he finished his detention." 

"But I thought he used to live with his mother," Joe frowned. Duncan had told him a lot about his mother. But when Joe thought back, he realized his friend never mentioned to him about his father at all. 

"She died while he was in detention," Mrs. Streetman told him. "She was shot by a group of muggers while she was on her way home. The place Duncan used to live was demolished to make way for a new building." 

"That's tough," Joe said, feeling sympathy for his friend. "It must have been hard for him to lose a mother while he was away. I know that he cared for her deeply." 

"I know," Mrs. Streetman agreed, "I guess I was acting on a mother's instinct when I accepted him to stay here." 

"Does he have any close friends?" Frank asked. 

"No, he never brought any friends here, as far as I can recall," Mrs. Streetman frowned thoughtfully. 

"No friends at all?" he asked incredulously. 

"Well, he did mention some names of his classmates, and his colleagues now and then, but I could tell he isn't close to them. But…" Mrs. Streetman trailed off thoughtfully. 

"But what?" Frank prompted curiously. 

"I don't know if this'll make any difference," she hedged, "but there's one name he reacted strangely when he mentioned it." 

"Who is it?" Joe asked eagerly. 

"It's a girl's name – Duncan called her simply as Lyn. He mentioned a couple of times about her recently," she told them. 

"What's so special about her?" Frank asked curiously. 

"Nothing I supposed," she shrugged, "but when he mentioned the name, he suddenly clammed up and grew red in the face. I have a feeling he is hiding something." 

"What did he tell you about her?" Joe asked. 

"Not much, he only told me that she is his classmate and his project partner. That's all I know." 

"Hmm, I wonder why," Frank mused thoughtfully. "Do you think if we could take a look at his room? Maybe we can find out his whereabouts." 

"All right. I hope you get the real murderer," Mrs. Streetman said as the boys followed her up the stairs to the first floor. 

"I hope so, too," Frank said, not mentioning that Duncan could also be the murderer. 

Duncan's room was a cheery room with flower-patterned curtains. The first impression that struck Frank was its neatness. The bed was made neatly – not a single wrinkle on the pastel cover. The bookcase was filled with textbooks. The books were arranged so neatly that even a librarian might envy them. He noticed a table beside the closet. There was a PC, a telephone, and a mug that was filled with pens and pencils on the table – all were arranged neatly. 

"Wow, Duncan makes your room in comparison to a junkyard, Frank," Joe cracked. Even though his room was totally the opposite of Duncan's, Joe couldn't help teasing his brother about his tidy room. 

"Yes, Duncan is always obsessed with neatness," Mrs. Streetman put in. "That's why I'm quite happy to have him staying here." 

Frank gave a mock angry glare at his brother. "I guess that makes our search easier," he quipped as he walked to the desk. "You search the drawers while I go through here," he told Joe. 

The two boys went to their tasks immediately, while Mrs. Streetman watched them curiously with her hands on her hips. Joe searched though the drawers. There was nothing but jeans, sweatshirts, and underwear. Then he went through the jackets that were hanging in the closet, searching through their pockets – except for some coins, he came up empty. The result was the same, too, when he searched other part of the room, and the bathroom. 

"What have you got at the desk, Frank?" Joe asked, as he picked up a small wastebasket. It was empty. 

Frank had already started-up Duncan's powerful computer. He was relieved Duncan didn't put on a password to access his computer. 

"Aside from his class assignments, and his job at Datatronics – nothing," he replied as he scrolled through the folders. He noticed a computer game installed. It was called Undead: The Ultimate Quest. "Nice," Frank muttered as he clicked on the game. 

"What did you say?" Joe asked him, approaching the desk. 

"Look at this," Frank said, "I bet this is the game Duncan had played with McGuire." He pointed to a name in the online game section. 

"McGuire the Barbarian?" Joe read in amusement. 

"And Duncan as Schwarzebrunnen the Sorcerer," Frank said with a grin. 

"Schwarzebrunnen?" Joe echoed in puzzlement. "Where did he get that kind of name?" 

"It's German for Blackwell," he told his brother. "So, what did you find?" he asked. 

"Zilch," Joe replied simply. "What about you?" 

"Nothing here," Frank replied. "I've checked the desk – just some stationery and his disks and CDs for his work with Datatronics. His emails are only from his colleagues – nothing from McGuire at all." Then he suddenly stared at the desk, the bookcase, and the room. Something was missing. What was it? 

"What's wrong, Frank?" Joe asked, looking at his brother's face. He knew that kind of look – that would mean his brother had an idea. It irritated him sometimes when his brother refused to tell him until the last minute. 

"You didn't find anything at all in his closet did you? Any papers of any kind?" Frank asked suddenly. 

"No, just his clothes, there are not many of them," Joe said. "What are you thinking about?" he asked, trying to hide his impatience. 

"Nothing, I guess…" Frank muttered under his breath. 

"But?" 

Frank suddenly turned to Mrs. Streetman. "Does Duncan always receive his mails?" he asked the woman. 

"What's this got to do with the case?" Joe asked, looking irritated. 

Frank ignored Joe as he looked at Mrs. Streetman. "Yes, like the rest of us do," she replied, looking guarded. 

"But they're not in his room," Frank pointed out. "Do you know where he keeps them?" he asked. 

"Actually, I forwarded his recent mails to another address," Mrs. Streetman told them. "As for the rest of them, I guess he must have took them with him." 

"You didn't tell the police about this?" Frank asked. 

"Well, they didn't ask, and I didn't tell," she replied defensively. "After all, he requested it about two weeks ago. So, I didn't think it had anything to do with the murder." 

"You mean he hasn't been here for two weeks?" Joe asked, surprised by the new revelation. 

"Yes, I've already told the police that," she said. "Duncan told me he wouldn't be here for a while and he didn't tell me where he will be either. He just left me a message in an envelope." 

"Can you show us the address?" Frank asked, trying not to sound too eager. Maybe they have a break in the case after all! 

"All right," she agreed reluctantly. "But it's a PO Box address," she told them before she left the room. 

While Mrs. Streetman was still out of the room, Frank turned to Joe. "If Duncan isn't staying here in Bayport, then where was he going the day we met him?" he asked his brother. 

"It could be anywhere," Joe told him. 

"Maybe, unless he already has a place to hide, don't you think so?" Frank pointed out. 

Joe didn't agree. He hadn't a chance to reply when Mrs. Streetman came to them with a piece of paper. She handed Frank the paper. 

"It's in Riverside," Frank read. "The town is only about fifteen minutes from here." 

"But how do we search for him? It's not like we have to make a public announcement to locate him. Riverside isn't a small town anymore," Joe said. 

"We'll think of something," Frank replied. 

The boys decided to head home. After thanking the woman, the Hardys went out of the house and climbed into their van. 

They reached their home a few minutes later. As soon as Frank stepped inside the house, the phone began to ring. 

"I'll get that," Frank said and headed to the living room. 

Joe went to lock their van. After that, he decided to check for mails. The mailbox stood tall on a wooden pole at the front lawn. Thick waist-high blackberry shrubs, which bordered the Hardy's lawn and the sidewalk, had already covered more than half of the mailbox pole. A piece of paper, which turned out to be a junk mail dropped to the ground when Joe opened the mailbox lid. As he was bending down to pick up the paper, two powerful arms suddenly grabbed him from behind, clamped his mouth shut, and dragged him into the dense shrubs.


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6 

Kicking and struggling, Joe fought hard against the vise-like grip. Even though Joe was strong and muscular, his captor was more solid in built. 

"Shhh, it's just me, buddy!" a familiar masculine voice said into Joe's ear. 

Joe's eyes widened when he recognized the voice. Slowly, his captor released him. Joe immediately turned around. 

"Duncan! What are you doing here?" he demanded. "You have some explanation to do." 

Duncan smiled wryly. "Sorry about that," he told him. Then turning serious, he looked at Joe levelly. "I think you've heard those accusations on me," he said grimly. 

"Yeah, but I don't believe you did it," Joe told him. 

"Thanks for the confidence, Joe. You're the only one I can trust to help me at the moment," Duncan sighed. His gray eyes looked troubled. Then he glanced around, checking his surrounding. 

"After four months skateboarding with you has convinced me that you're a nice guy," Joe told him. "What's going on, Duncan? Why this entire hide-and-seek thing?" he asked the young man. 

"Can't talk long," Duncan said urgently, "I have a feeling someone's been following me." 

"What? Let's get into the house and we'll talk," Joe suggested. He was about to roll out of the thick shrubs when Duncan pulled him back, hard. 

"No, I can't be seen," he said firmly. "Here, take this," Duncan pulled out a bulky manila envelope and pushed it against Joe's chest. 

"What's this?" Joe asked, taking the envelope. 

"Something that Bob had sent to me before he died," he replied. "It needs a computer, and since my only computer is in my room, I can't accessed it. The police will make a surveillance of it, I'm sure." 

Joe was about to ask more when there was a sudden explosion from across the street. Alarmed, Joe turned to Duncan. "Stay here!" he ordered before he untangled himself from the shrubs and ran across the lawn to look at the commotion. 

He was relieved to see that it was only a car that had run over a sharp object. Several curious onlookers were already crowding the car, asking if the driver was all right, and so on. When he walked back to the shrubs, no one was there. He searched through it just to be sure, but Duncan had disappeared, again. 

"Joe! What's going on?" Frank's voice rang out from behind. He sounded worried. 

Joe turned around and saw his brother jogged toward him. "Nothing to get panic about," he assured his brother, and told him about the car. 

Frank looked relieved, and then he brightened up. "You won't believe who called just now," Frank began. 

"Who?" 

"Mr. Bradley! He told me that he had received Duncan's program half an hour ago," Frank reported. 

"Uh-huh, you won't believe what happened just now either," Joe told him. "Did Duncan hand the program directly to Bradley?" he asked. 

"No, he sent it in an envelope with Bradley's name on it and left it at the reception area – no one had seen him did that. The receptionist was taking a few minutes break, and when she came back, the envelope was already there," he said in a rush. "So, what did happen? You have leaves on your head," he demanded suddenly at his brother. 

Frank looked surprise when Joe told him about meeting Duncan. He showed to Frank the envelope that Duncan had given him. "Duncan must have come straight here after sending his program to Bradley," Joe concluded as he brushed away the leaves on his head and clothes. 

Frank looked at the envelope. The postmark was dated on the day McGuire was murdered. "And McGuire must have posted this before he died," Frank put in. "I wonder why he sent it to Duncan?" 

"Let's take a look at it now," Joe urged impatiently. "There must be something important inside if Duncan took the trouble to send this to me." 

Both of them rushed into Frank's room. While waiting for the computer to boot up, Frank opened the envelope. A note and a plastic CD cover fell into his hand. He opened the CD cover, and inside it was a CD labeled: ElectroSoft Full Version. 

Joe picked up the note. "Who's Wirth?" he suddenly asked, reading through the note. 

"What are you talking about?" Frank asked in puzzlement. 

Joe showed him the note. It was written as if McGuire was in a hurry. 

_Duncan,_

_As U know, this CD is the proof that I need for my suspicion. I've finally got the real hard evidence last night._

_U can get it from Wirth & send it 2 the right authority ASAP! _

_Thankx._

_Bob._

"Maybe Wirth was McGuire's colleague?" Frank guessed. "This note shows that McGuire trusted Duncan. So, Duncan couldn't have killed McGuire," he hypothesized. 

"I told you he's innocent!" Joe couldn't help looking smug. "Someone else must have killed McGuire for this," he pointed to the CD. "If this person knew that Duncan had this CD, then he is also in danger." 

"Then let's check it out," Frank immediately put the CD into the CD drive of his computer. Joe looked on over his shoulder. A new window appeared on the screen. It said: _ElectroSoft's Super Vision – Full Version_. When the computer prompted if they wanted to install the software, Frank clicked on the 'Yes' button. 

After a few minutes, the installation process completed. When Frank started the program on his computer, nothing happened. 

"What's wrong?" Joe asked. 

"I don't know, maybe a glitch in the system. I'll try to restart the computer," Frank said and restarted his computer. When he started the program again, a warning sign appeared saying it couldn't find the program. 

"That's weird," Joe said. "What kind of proof McGuire had meant in this CD?" he asked, looking doubtful. 

"I don't know, Joe. Maybe I should take a look in the core program," Frank suggested almost to himself than to Joe. "Phil has given me a basic compiler. I hope it works with this one," he told Joe as he opened up a file on the folder. But it came didn't came out the way it should be. The monitor on the screen showed something unreadable. 

_p† ÿ!UA "Super Vision" _


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7 

The Hardys tensed as they glanced at the two tall men warily – anticipating a sudden attack. Then one of them began walking toward the boys. He had short crew cut blond hair and a pair of steely gray eyes. 

"Is this the Hardy house?" the man demanded. 

"Who wants to know?" Joe shot back. 

"We're looking for Fenton Hardy," he said crisply. 

"What for?" Frank spoke up. 

"That's none of your business," the man snapped. 

"He's not here. I suppose if you have something to say, you'd better say it to us and we'll relay the message to him," Frank told the man coolly. Fenton Hardy and his wife were on vacation in Florida at the moment. 

"That's all right, Eric," a new voice suddenly spoke up from behind the man. "I'll take over from here." An elderly man in gray executive suit came out from the back of the car and approached them slowly. 

Frank could have sworn he had seen this person recently. Where had he seen him? Then suddenly it hit him. 

"You're –" he started to say. 

"Bauer. Armando Bauer," the man introduced himself, extending his hand. 

"Bauer? As in Lee & Bauer?" Joe asked in surprised, shaking hands with the man. 

"That's right. You know who I am?" Mr. Bauer sounded pleased. 

"Just recently," Frank admitted. "So, what can we do for you, Mr. Bauer?" 

"I supposed you're Fenton Hardy's sons?" he asked, studying the boys curiously. 

"Yes, I'm Frank, and this is Joe," he said, pointing toward his brother. 

"I suppose both of you should be able to handle it," Mr. Bauer muttered thoughtfully. "I've heard your reputation as detectives." 

"Handle what, Mr. Bauer?" Frank asked curiously. 

He glanced around carefully. "I think we should talk privately. This is something I'd rather not have in the news." 

"All right. Let's get inside," Frank said, turning back to the house. 

"No, get inside my car. We can talk there," Mr. Bauer said. His tone might have been casual, but it oozed with authority. Obviously, he was used to have people obeying his orders. 

The Hardys exchanged glances, wondering if this might be a good idea. Finally, Joe just shrugged. 

"All right," Frank said, reluctantly. 

All of them except the two muscled men climbed into the backseat of the limo. Mr. Bauer didn't say anything at all during the ride. The boys just glanced at the man warily, growing tense and alert every seconds. Mr. Bauer might be a well-known man in the business industry, but that didn't mean he was clean. 

The ride took them up a hill, almost heading out of Bayport – toward another town, Riverside. The Hardys looked at each other with a knowing look. 

"You live in Riverside, Mr. Bauer?" Frank asked, starting the conversation. 

"Yes, all my life," Mr. Bauer replied. He didn't elaborate further. 

They reached into an upper-class section of the town with big bungalow houses lined on either sides of the street. The limo turned and stopped in front of a wrought iron gate. The gate automatically slid open and the limo rolled inside and pulled to a stop in the driveway. 

Mr. Bauer, accompanied by the two men, whom Frank guessed were his bodyguards, entered the big white house. He motioned the boys to step into his big cozy living room. 

"Please sit down, boys," he told them waving toward the antique sofas. "Would you like anything to drink?" he asked them. 

The boys declined politely. "So, why are you bringing us here?" Joe started after he was comfortably seated. 

Mr. Bauer went to the homemade bar and poured himself a drink. Then he walked over to the sofa and sat down, facing the two boys. 

"I want you to find my daughter," he told them simply. 

The Hardys looked at him in surprise. "Your daughter? Is she missing?" Frank asked, curiously. 

"Yeah, she hasn't been home for two weeks," Mr. Bauer told them. 

"And you haven't report it to the police?" Joe asked incredulously. 

"I said I don't want any police involvement. I've tried to find her myself but I guess it hasn't been successful," he scoffed. 

"How do you know she's missing, and not going off somewhere?" Frank asked. 

"Because she's been kidnapped, and I happened to know who he is," Mr. Bauer told them levelly. 

"Who?" asked Joe. 

"Duncan Blackwell."


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8 

"You're lying!" Joe exploded, springing up from his seat. 

"Cool it, Joe," Frank warned him quietly, pulling his brother down. Calmly he turned to Mr. Bauer. "Do you have any proof that Duncan kidnapped your daughter?" he asked. 

"I don't have to get any proof, I just know it," Mr. Bauer replied crisply. 

"Um, what is your daughter's name?" Frank asked curiously. 

"Marilyn," he replied shortly, and stood up. "I call her Lyn for short." He began pacing in front of the fireplace. 

This time Frank and Joe exchanged uneasy glances. "Is she also studying in Bayport University?" he asked again. 

"Yes," the businessman said and frowned. "How do you know that?" he asked suspiciously. 

"Lucky guess," Joe put in. "What makes you think Duncan did that?" 

"Maybe I should start from the beginning," he sighed heavily. "You see, I've already arranged my daughter to be married to the son of one of my associates after she has graduated. Then six months ago, I found out she's been seeing Duncan without my consent. I have checked out the guy, and I must say I don't want my daughter to mix up with a gold digger like Duncan," he scoffed. 

Joe fought hard to hide his disgust for Mr. Bauer. Frank shot him a warning look. 

"So, what did you do?" Frank asked calmly. 

"I forbade her from seeing him," he replied simply. "She agreed, maybe too easily, so I sent some of my men to check on her." 

"You were spying on your daughter!" Joe stated in disbelief. 

"This is for a good cause," Mr. Bauer waved off Joe's comment. 

"Yeah, good for your own interest, I'll bet," Joe retorted sarcastically. 

"That's when she started behaving secretively and suspiciously," the elderly man continued, ignoring Joe's comment. 

"Gee, I wonder why," Joe continued his tirade, crossing his arms. Frank nudged him by the side as a warning. 

"I believe she's still seeing him behind my back," Mr. Bauer concluded. "And when this murder business came on, I knew I have to find her." 

"But she's been missing before the murder. I don't see any connection with that," Frank pointed out. "Did you check out with the university? It's summer now, I think most of the classes are closed." 

"Yeah, but she is taking a summer course – she's managed to evade my men well. I'll bet that no-good Blackwell kid taught her that," he said, grumpily. 

"So, your daughter wasn't really kidnapped," Frank concluded, "She left in her own free will." 

"She's been kidnapped," Mr. Bauer stated stubbornly. "I'm going to do everything I can to bring Duncan to justice. So, are you going to accept this assignment or not?" 

Joe was about to protest when Frank cut him off. "We'll take it," Frank told him. Joe looked at him in disbelief. 

"Good," the man smiled in satisfaction. He shook hands with the Hardys before letting them out. "I'll tell my men to send you back home." 

"Oh, by the way, you've forgotten to give your daughter's picture," Frank said before they headed out. 

"I have it here somewhere," Mr. Bauer said as he walked to the fireplace. He picked up a framed picture on the mantel. He removed the frame and handed the photo to the Hardys. "This one is about a year ago." 

"Wow, she's kind of good-looking," Joe commented as he looked at a colored photo of a young woman with long straight black hair, and a pair of blue eyes. 

"And she's not for you!" Mr. Bauer glared at Joe. 

"It was just a compliment. That doesn't mean I'm interested," Joe shot back. "And I'm glad that she ran away from you." 

Frank sighed heavily, rolling his eyes to the ceiling. Manners, Joe, where are your manners?, Frank thought, feeling an urge to strangle his brother. 

"I think both of you have to leave now," Mr. Bauer told them crisply. 

Suddenly, there were shouts of warning coming from outside of the house. Alarmed, all of them rushed out of the house to see what the ruckus was all about. 

"Eric! What's happening?" Mr. Bauer shouted to the blond man that had accompanied them earlier. Eric was speaking to his walkie-talkie. 

"Someone's trespassing on the property, Mr. Bauer," he said turning to his boss. 

"Did you get him?" Mr. Bauer demanded, marching toward the man. 

"Tim and Fred are tracking him at the back," Eric reported firmly. The crackled from the walkie-talkie came on. Eric answered it. "What have you got there, Tim?" he asked. After listening to the reply, the bodyguard turned to Mr. Bauer grimly. 

"It's a clean sneak, sir," Eric reported. "The intruder climbed over the fence and escaped." 

Mr. Bauer looked like he wanted to strangle somebody. "I'll bet that person was that Blackwell kid," he growled. 

"You don't have any evidence to back that up, Mr. Bauer," Frank pointed out. "It could be a common burglar." 

The businessman glared at Frank. "Eric, send these boys home," he ordered the blond guy. 

"Yes, sir," Eric replied. He walked to the boys and ushered them toward a black BMW. 

"You mean we're not going back in a limo?" Joe asked. 

"Get in," Eric told them, ignoring Joe's jibe. 

The ride back home was also in silence. Frank and Joe tried to make a conversation with the man, but he never uttered a reply. Fifteen minutes later, the boys arrived back home. After dropping the boys, Eric drove off without giving a glance at them. 

"That was very friendly," Joe muttered as he walked along the driveway with his brother. "But I can't understand why you accepted Mr. Bauer's offer? He's a creep to me," he told him. 

"Think for a minute," Frank said, "If we manage to find Lyn, then maybe we'll find Duncan, too. But we didn't promised Mr. Bauer that we're bringing his daughter back to him, did we?" he said with a mischievous smile. 

"No," Joe agreed with a wicked grin, following his brother's thoughts. "Do you think Mr. Bauer could have murdered McGuire just to frame Duncan? After all, he really hates Duncan down to the bone." 

"He could have, but I'm sure he would send one of his men to do the dirty job," Frank surmised. "It's going to be hard to prove that though. But I don't see the connection with the CD that McGuire had given Duncan." 

"It's a bit late to see Phil now. I'd say we meet him tomorrow," Joe suggested, stepping inside the living room after Frank had unlocked the door. 

"I guess you're right," Frank replied reluctantly. "What's for dinner?" 

"Pizza," Joe replied simply and picked up the phone. 

After ordering the pizza, Joe was about to put down the receiver when Frank dashed down the stairs. 

"Joe! Call the police. Somebody's ransacked our rooms!"


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9 

"Who would have done such a thing? Why only your rooms?" Con asked Frank and Joe. He was making notes on the condition of the ransacked rooms. Frank sat on the chair in his room while Joe was pacing restlessly as the other police officers checked for evidence in their rooms. 

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Frank replied. "We don't have anything valuable here." 

Con squatted down, leaving his men to finish the job. "Are you sure there's nothing missing?" he asked again. 

"Yeah, my computer is still there, so is my stereo," Frank replied. "Nothing's taken." 

"What about you, Joe?" 

"Ditto for me," he replied simply. 

"Do you think it must have something to do with the case that you're on?" Con asked curiously. "We checked the front door. Someone has jimmied it open." 

"Maybe, the coincidence is too perfect. Somebody must have known we were out," Joe told him. 

"Hmm, that doesn't help much," Con commented. "Anyway, did you hear the latest news on the robbery case?" he asked suddenly. 

"No, we didn't," Joe said. "What about it?" 

"We managed to arrest the two robbers that you two have met yesterday," Con told them. 

"Hey, that's great! Does that mean the case is closed?" Frank said. 

"Not really," Con replied seriously. "We might have a bigger problem. When I interrogated those robbers on who supplied those weapons, they all clammed up, as if they were afraid of something." 

"What are they afraid of?" Joe asked curiously. 

"I can guess the reason why. When I pressed them further, they finally came up with a name." 

"Who?" Frank asked. 

"Red Lewis, one of the most wanted criminals who has been eluding the authorities in six states. He's been operating his gun running operation for years. He likes to smuggle big guns. Even though the ATF managed to confiscate some of his guns, they couldn't figure out where he gets his income to order such a large amount of weapons – the price is higher than he makes from selling them. As far as we have found out, he did nothing in his life but smuggling weapons." 

"He must have getting his source of income somewhere," Frank said thoughtfully. 

"That's what we're trying to figure out. Those robbers didn't know anything more except for the name," Con said. "And if you happen to spot Lewis, contact us immediately," he told the boys and handed out a printout of Lewis's face. The criminal was in his late-forties and thin. He had red hair and a pair of gray shrewd eyes. There was something vaguely familiar about the criminal's face. 

"Thanks for the info, Con," Joe told him. 

Con got ready to go. "Well, I'm just glad you two weren't hurt. If you think of anything that could help us, just give me a call." 

When the police had finally gone, Joe turned to Frank. "So, who do you think could have done this?" he asked. "Do you think Bauer could have done this? He was the one who took us to his home. So, he knew the house was empty." 

"I guess so," Frank said. "I think the next step is to check who owns the PO Box in Riverside, and we also need to check if there's somebody with the name Wirth working in Datatronics or ElectroSoft, and I'll take the CD to Phil tomorrow. I have to give the hardware that I have collected for him anyway." 

Frank was hit by a sudden realization. "Joe, what if the intruder was searching for this CD?" Frank asked, pulling out the CD from his jacket. 

"Hey, that must be it!" Joe exclaimed. "But then someone must have seen that I've taken it from Duncan," he frowned. 

"Or someone has seen Duncan coming to our place, and made a conclusion from his visit," Frank said. "Duncan did say he was being followed. But we're still not sure who was following him – it could have been Bauer, spying Duncan to locate his daughter." 

Joe rubbed his eyes tiredly. "I need a break from all this. Let's get some dinner now." 

*** 

The Hardys spent the whole morning of the next day searching for an employee with the name Wirth in Datatronics or ElectroSoft. Frank had managed to hack through the companies' databases using the hacking program that Phil had given him. 

"Nothing, again!" Frank said in frustration, banging his fist on the table. They had tried a lot of searches for the name Wirth, but ended without any result. 

Joe suppressed his yawn. "This is getting nowhere," he said. "Maybe it's someone who is _not_ working in Datatronics or ElectroSoft." 

"That would be like searching a needle in a haystack," Frank sighed wearily. 

"Keep trying," Joe encouraged. "In the meantime, I'm going to make a phone call." 

"Who are you calling?" Frank asked curiously. 

"Just to make a little inquiry," Joe replied cryptically. With that, he dashed out of the room. He went downstairs and entered his father's study. 

Joe grabbed the Yellow Pages and searched through it. When he found the number of the main post office in Riverside, he punched the numbers immediately on the phone. 

After a few minutes talking to the clerk who was in charge of the post office box arrangements, Joe finally managed to find the name of the owner of the box. But for safety precautions, the clerk couldn't give out the address or the contact number of the owner. He would have to find that out the hard way. 

"So, did you find anything?" Joe asked his brother as soon as he stepped into Frank's room. 

"No, I'm ready to give up. I think I'll head to Phil's place now. He's free on Fridays," Frank replied in a strain voice, rubbing the back of his neck. "So, what were you doing just now?" he asked. 

He told Frank about the phone call that he had made. "And I got the name of the owner of that PO Box," Joe said simply. 

"Shoot." 

"Hans Turner," Joe said simply. 

"Who's that?" Frank asked quizzically. 

"I don't know, but I think it's worth checking out," Joe replied with a shrug. 

"Good work, Joe." He nodded in approval. "So, that means you're going to check out the box?" Frank asked. 

"Yep," Joe said. "I'll take the van," he said, taking the keys on the table before Frank could react. 

"Sneaky," Frank said. 

"Or maybe you're getting old," Joe remarked with a grin. Frank didn't manage to retort when Joe was already out of the room in a flash. 

Maybe I'm already getting old, Frank thought, getting up from his chair. Glancing at the mirror on the wall, he instinctively checked his head for gray hairs before heading out. 

*** 

"Did you find anything wrong with the program?" Frank asked Phil. His black-haired friend had just installed the program into his computer. They were sitting in the basement of the Cohen's house. Phil had turned the basement into his own private electronics lab. 

"Nope," Phil replied simply. "Where did you get this? This program hasn't come out in the market, yet." 

Frank quickly told him about the case he was working on, and how he had obtained the CD. 

Phil gave a low whistle as he listened to the details. "At least Blackwell and McGuire weren't trading companies' secrets," he said. "That would have been a serious crime." 

"I doubt that," Frank replied, "The only thing that brought them together was a computer game." 

"OK, back to this program. If I recall correctly, this thing needs a dongle to work," Phil told him. "If you don't have one, your program won't start," he explained. 

"A dongle?" Frank asked. 

Phil nodded. "I have one here, but this one is used for other application," he told his friend. He began searching through a white box that was filled with electronic components. When he found it, Phil handed the component to his friend. To Frank the dongle looked like a computer port adapter. 

"I think I get it," Frank said, "This thing is some sort of a security protection for a software." 

"You're catching on," Phil said. 

"But why would McGuire gave Duncan the CD without the dongle if he knew it wasn't going to work?" Frank asked, almost to himself. 

"Maybe the program in the CD is supposed to work without the dongle," Phil answered, with an interested look. 

"Can you do that?" Frank asked in surprise. 

"Sure, if you can make a program to bypass the use of the dongle," Phil told him. "Let me check first," he said as he scrolled through the contents of the CD using his computer. "Just as I thought, someone has made a crack file of the main program." 

"That's the file to bypass the dongle, right?" Frank asked, suddenly realizing the significance of the CD. 

"Right, and you have to overwrite the program file that you have installed with this crack file," Phil told him. "That way your program will work without the dongle." 

"If you distribute this program for free, let say in the Internet, you can use the program easily – you don't have to worry of searching for the dongle," Frank said in amazement. 

"I think that is called software piracy, Frank," Phil told him. "That's why some of the software nowadays uses dongle to prevent their product from getting copied illegally." 

"Then McGuire must have known who made this pirated program and he died because of it!" 


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10 

Joe Hardy glanced into the review mirror for the umpteenth time. He could have sworn he saw a black sedan was tailing him. He was on his way to Riverside, driving along the main road that led to the town. He started noticing the car as soon as he left the house. He had tried a few tricks to see if the car really was tailing him – after a few minutes moving around the town of Bayport, the car still stuck close behind him. 

"And he really makes a big show out of it, too," Joe muttered under his breath. He tried to look at the driver's face, but the windshield was tinted dark. If he couldn't get a look at the face, then he would concentrate on the car. It was a late model Ford, but the license plate was caked with mud. 

"How convenient," he added sarcastically, referring to the plate. 

Joe suddenly pulled the van to a stop by the side road that was lined with trees. Instead of stopping behind the van, the black car ran past the van. Joe immediately gunned the engine. The road forked into two ahead, and the black car took the right one – the road that led to the center of Riverside. 

Joe moved the van in a safe distance behind the black car. Whoever the driver was, he or she knew Riverside well. The car took every turn and corner with an expert ease – hoping to shake Joe from its tail. He lost the car when a big blue eighteen-wheeler suddenly pulled out of a warehouse, reversing toward the road, and blocking Joe's path completely. 

"Rats!" Joe smacked the steering wheel in frustration. It felt like forever when the truck finally moved along the road. By this time, the black car was already long gone. But Joe kept searching for it, looking at every small paths, and dead ends. Nothing. After a few minutes he gave up, and drove to the Riverside Post Office. 

He parked the car across from the redbrick building. Putting on his cap, Joe glanced around casually, trying to spot if anyone was following him before he jogged toward the building. 

After asking directions to the location of the PO Boxes, he didn't waste his time reaching there. He located the number of the box easily among the rows of other mailboxes. It was just the opposite of an emergency door. 

He walked over to the waiting area across the hall from the mailboxes. He found an empty bench, pulled out a copy of a newspaper from his jacket and pretended to read it while he waited. 

*** 

Meanwhile, Frank was already at the police station. He was sitting at Con's desk, and telling the policeman about the CD and his theory on McGuire's murder. 

"So, you're saying this program is a pirated software?" Con asked, studying the CD thoughtfully. 

"It has to be," Frank said. "Or else why would someone went the trouble to ransack our rooms? Or why McGuire secretly sent this to Duncan?" he pointed out. 

"Hmm, I'm going to give this to our computer expert to analyze this CD," Con told him. "And what about Wirth? Do you know anything about him? I might try checking on him in our database." He went to his terminal and began the search on the name. After a few minutes, it came up with nothing. 

"Tough luck, there," Frank said, frowning. "I'll bet Duncan knows something about this program, too. He might even know who Wirth is." 

"The only way to do is to find him first," Con said, "He's still under arrest, unless he turns himself in and tell us all about this." 

"I wonder how Joe's doing right now," Frank said quietly. "I hope he has better luck than I do." 

The sudden shrill of the phone almost startled them from their thoughts. Con picked up the receiver. 

"Bayport PD, Officer Riley here." 

He waited for a few seconds as he listened to what the other caller was saying. He suddenly looked surprise and then concern before he spoke up. 

"We'll be right there, Mrs. Streetman. Don't touch anything," he said before he hung up the phone. 

Frank's ears pricked up when he heard the name. "What's happened?" he asked anxiously. 

"That was Mrs. Streetman. Someone's ransacked Blackwell's room!" 

*** 

Joe thought his back was going stiff after sitting on the bench for an hour. Someone's bound to get suspicious if I stay here longer, he thought grumpily. He stood up and stretched. He was about to sit down when he caught sight of a movement near the particular mailbox. What luck! I hope this person is the owner of the mailbox, or else I'm going to grab a large pizza with cheese, pepperoni, and mushroom on it, he thought as he patted his grumbling stomach. The thought about food made his mouth water. 

The person in a hooded baggy gray sweatshirt and jeans was definitely walking toward the mailbox that Joe was watching. Finally, a break! He thought in relief. He couldn't make out if the person was a man or a woman. The head was covered with the hood. The newcomer looked around cautiously before opening the mailbox. He pulled out a couple of letters from the box and stuffed them into the pocket of the sweatshirt. When it was done, the person turned around. Joe could see the person was wearing a cap underneath the hood. The cap was pulled low to cover the face. 

Suddenly, the person looked up, and seemed to be staring straight at Joe. Both of them froze as they stared at one another. Without warning, the person whirled around and bolted through the emergency door. 


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11 

Frank followed Con and his men into Mrs. Streetman's house. Despite the wonderful sunny day outside, the atmosphere inside the house was filled with intense anxiety and tension. It was obvious Mrs. Streetman never experienced a crime being done in her own home before. 

She nervously showed them to Duncan's room. The room, which used to be immaculately tidy, was now in shambles. Duncan's going to get freaked out when he sees this, Frank thought grimly. 

He surveyed the room carefully, while the forensic experts were working around the room. Careful not to disturb anything, he walked over to the window. 

There were scratched marks on the sill outside of the window. It looked as if someone tried to force open the window with a lever. 

"When did you notice the room was ransacked, Mrs. Streetman?" Frank heard Con asking the elderly woman. 

"Just this morning," she replied, fidgeting on the gold bracelet on her wrist. "I wanted to clean the windows in this room after I did with the others," she explained. 

"You didn't hear anyone coming into your house?" Con asked again. 

"No." 

Con started asking some more basic questions before he inspected the room. 

"Did you find anything here?" Con asked Frank. 

"No, but it looks like whoever it was entered through the window," he replied. "Someone must be really desperate searching for the CD." 

"Which makes me wonder if he would make a try in McGuire's house," Con said. 

"Or maybe he already had," Frank said. "I'd say we check it after this." 

After they had done with Duncan's room, Frank and Con stopped at McGuire's home. The police tape was still there. Sure enough, when they entered the house, everything was turned upside down. 

"Maybe the identity of the killer is in the CD," Frank suggested as he surveyed the messy computer room. "Whoever it was, I hope he didn't find what he was looking for here." 

*** 

Joe didn't hesitate for a second when he dashed after the mysterious person. He yanked the emergency door open and found himself facing the back alley of the post office. The sound of running footsteps echoed on his right. With a burst of energy, he raced after the person. Even though he was a fast runner, he had to admit the other person was moving very quickly – almost effortlessly. 

Slowly and slowly, he was closing the gap between them. At the last possible seconds, Joe leaped up and tackled him down by the waist. Both of them fell to the ground. 

The other person continued struggling stubbornly. In a swift move, he lashed out his leg and gave a karate kick toward Joe. Taken by surprise, Joe loosened his grip on him slightly. 

"Urghh!" Joe grunted, feeling the pain on his chest. But he refused to give up. He continued clinging to the person. 

The person seemed annoyed by this. He twisted around, and punched Joe right in the face. The blow almost got the wind out of Joe. _Whoa, this guy knows how to fight_, he thought with a grimace. He could almost see white spots in front of his eyes. He shook his head, hoping to get rid of the dizziness. 

It was the advantage that the other person needed as he rolled away from Joe and got up to his feet. Rubbing his swollen jaw, Joe got up, too, and ran after the person again. _He can't get away now_, Joe thought when he noticed a dead end ahead of them. 

The wall was too high to climb, and there was nothing in the narrow alley that could be used to climb up the wall. The person had no choice but to turn around. 

Joe blocked the path when the guy neared him. "Look, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to ask you some questions," he told the person. 

He seemed to consider Joe's suggestion when Joe saw him hesitating. Joe slowly lowered his guard down. As soon as he did that, the guy pushed him hard, sending Joe's back against the wall with a thud before running away again. 

"All right, tough guy, now you're going to get it!" Joe growled. Ignoring the pain on his back, Joe ran and managed to catch the person before he could make a getaway. He locked his arms around the guy from behind tightly, trying to immobilize him. 

"Hmmph!" the person grunted. The hooded figure stomped on Joe's shoes, jabbed his elbow hard against Joe's midsection before hurling him over his shoulder - straight to the concrete pavement. All these were done in one swift movement. 

Joe couldn't manage to catch on what was happening to him. The last thing he knew, he was already lying on the ground – his body felt sore. The figure seemed to examine Joe briefly, as if checking that he was all right. 

Then he moved away, but Joe lashed out his leg against his opponent's ankles and tripped him. Caught by surprise, the figure fell to the ground. Without wasting his time, Joe scrambled over to the person and pulled off the hood and the cap. Long black hair tumbled down in silky waves. 

"Y-You're a girl!" Joe gasped in shock. He immediately recognized the girl when she turned around and glared at him angrily. It was Marilyn Bauer. 

"Why does that shock you? Because I've beaten you?" she shot back. Her blue eyes flashed challengingly. 

Joe's face reddened in embarrassment. "Um…uh, no, I – I mean, well, I thought you were a guy – actually, what I mean was – uh, you fight like a guy," he stammered. 

The young woman couldn't help smiling smugly. "That should teach you not to underestimate a woman," she told him. 

"I can see that," Joe winced, massaging his swollen jaw. "You really gave me a pack of wallop." 

She looked at him in concern. "I hope nothing's broken," she said, helping him to get up. 

"No, but it's going to be colorful the next few days," he cracked. 

Relieved that he was all right, she looked at him cautiously. "I'm Marilyn. Call me Lyn," she introduced herself as if finally deciding that Joe wasn't going to harm her. 

"I know…I mean, I'm Joe Hardy," Joe said quickly. 

"You're Joe Hardy?" Lyn asked in surprise. 

"Yes. What's wrong?" he asked quizzically. 

"Oh, man, I didn't know that," Lyn started saying. "I'm sorry for hitting you and all that," she apologized sincerely. "Duncan has been telling me about you." 

Joe waved her off. "Don't worry about it," he assured her. "You really showed me that I need some serious street fighting lessons!" 

"No, I thought you worked for my Dad. I saw you and the other guy at my Dad's house last time," Lyn explained. 

"That other guy is my brother, Frank," Joe replied. "You must have been the intruder that your Dad was searching the other day." 

"Guilty," she said with a rueful smile. "I wanted to take some of my things I've forgotten without my Dad seeing me." 

"Why all this secrecy, Lyn? Who is Hans Turner? Do you know where Duncan is?" Joe asked her in a rush. 

"Actually, Turner is my neighbor. We share the same PO Box. And as for Duncan, I can take you to him," she smiled. "How did you come here?" she asked, putting on her cap and the hood. 

"By van. It's just across the street," Joe replied. 

"Then we'll use your van. I came here by bus," she said. 

It was a short ride. Lyn took him to a five-story apartment at the edge of town. The building was old, with its off-white paint peeling. 

"It's nothing fancy, but it beats than staying at my house with a bunch of spies," Lyn told him as soon as Joe pulled the van into the parking lot. 

"Duncan is staying with you, too?" Joe asked with a surprise look. 

"Come on, I'll show you to him," Lyn said, ignoring his question. They entered the building. Soon, they arrived on the third floor. 

Lyn stepped out of the elevator before turning to her right. Joe followed closely behind. She stopped in front of a room with the number 311 on it. She pulled out her keys and unlocked the door. Joe was the first one to rush inside. The room was nicely kept despite the outer condition of the building. 

He immediately noticed Duncan, sitting on a couch facing a laptop in the living room. The handsome young man looked up. Right now, he was wearing a pair of faded Levi's and sweatshirt that stretched across his broad chest. He looked more at home in those instead of the executive suit that he had worn a few days ago. Duncan was surprised when he caught sight of Joe. 

"Hey, Joe, you finally have found me," Duncan said, standing up and patted Joe on the shoulder. 

"Yeah, the hard way," Joe grimaced. 

"Uh-huh, I guess you must have been getting along fine with Lyn Blackwell," he said, looking amused. 

"Blackwell?" Joe looked startled. 

"Didn't she tell you? Lyn is my wife!"


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12 

Joe could have sworn his jaw had dropped to the floor. His hand instinctively felt around his still-intact face. 

"B-But…how? Where? When?" Joe managed to say, not knowing which questions to ask first. 

"I think you should sit down first," Lyn suggested, as she gently led Joe to an empty old-looking blue sofa. She pulled the letters from her pocket and placed them on the coffee table. Then she sat next to Duncan. 

Joe sat down, feeling like a zombie. Then, as if he suddenly was out of a trance, he turned to the couple with a serious look. 

"I think you should start from the beginning," Joe suggested. 

"You're right," Duncan agreed. He took a deep breath before he began. "Actually, Lyn and me - we have been married for three months," he began. 

"Three months!" Joe sputtered. "You really have been busy," he commented. 

Duncan reddened in embarrassment. "Anyway, we were in the same programming class for a couple of years. I didn't noticed her until a year ago," he said. 

"That's because the professor had assigned us to be partners for a project," Lyn explained, with an amused grin toward her husband. "Or else he couldn't have known I existed." 

Duncan cleared his throat, obviously embarrassed to be telling the story. "Well, yes, we became friends right away after that," he said simply. 

Joe could tell Duncan had left out something. He glanced at Lyn, who rolled her eyes to the ceiling. 

"No, we didn't," Lyn corrected, glaring at her husband in mock anger, "All he did were making fun of me – saying things like, what a spoilt brat I was and so on, which I have to admit I was," she said with a wry smile. 

"Duncan? I don't believe it," Joe said, shaking his head. 

"Well, yeah, I have to admit I did that," he flushed, "And also because I found out her father is part of the owner of Lee & Bauer, the company that had demolished my original home," Duncan explained hastily. "I guess I didn't want anything to do with her at first." 

"But did you know that Lee & Bauer are thinking of having Datatronics under their wings?" Joe asked. 

"I've heard about that," Lyn admitted. "It's kind of ironic. My Dad seems to be everywhere, you can't hide from him." 

"We have to deal with him one day, Lyn," Duncan said with a serious tone. "Or maybe I have to face him someday." He grimaced when he said that. 

"I know that," Lyn sighed. Then she turned to Joe. "I think you've already known my Dad has set me up to marry another guy. My Dad wanted me to marry someone from a reputable family," she turned to Duncan with a mischievous smile. "I know Duncan is a bit of a bad boy – but deep down he's got a heart of gold." 

Duncan flushed. "I'm not a bad boy," he protested. 

"Yeah, I can see that," Joe nodded with a grin. Then he began telling them about Mr. Bauer's request to find Lyn. 

Duncan groaned. "Great, now I'm not only supposed to be a murderer, but a kidnapper, too?" he said, shaking his head in amazement. "What's next? A robber?" 

"I hope not. What happened next?" Joe asked, changing the subject back to its original topic. 

"I think I'd better let Lyn tells the story," Duncan replied, glancing at his wife with a smile. 

"It's nothing much really," Lyn said, blushing. "We have made a compromise to put our grudges behind if we want to work on the project as a team. And the rest as you say is history." 

"We tried to keep our meetings a secret because of her Dad," Duncan said, "But somehow he managed to find out about it. We just rented this place a couple of weeks ago." 

"So, Mr. Bauer doesn't know both of you are married," Joe said. 

"No, not yet," Lyn said, looking slightly uncomfortable. 

"What about Mrs. Streetman? Does she know about this, too?" Joe continued asking. 

"No, she doesn't. And I almost spilled the beans with Mrs. Streetman about this, too, when I was talking to her about Lyn," he admitted in embarrassment. "I couldn't afford to tell her, just in case Mr. Bauer's men were listening." 

"Do you guys want some soda?" Lyn suddenly asked, changing the subject. 

Both guys declined. "Well, that leaves me then," Lyn said before heading to the kitchen. 

"Well now, let's talk about McGuire," Joe suggested, turning to Duncan after Lyn had left. 

At the mention of the name, Duncan's gray eyes flashed. "That guy had a lot of nerve dragging me into this." 

"But you did visit him at his house a few times before, right?" Joe prompted. 

"I know, I know. He sounded troubled when he called me to see him, a few weeks ago – so I came, out of curiosity," Duncan said and started pacing around the living room. "He thought someone had been making illegal copies of the software that he had co-wrote with his colleagues, and distributed it around. He didn't trust anyone from ElectroSoft ever since he found that CD – that's why he asked me instead, he didn't know who else he could turn to," he added in a rush. 

"Whoa, slow down for a minute, will ya?" Joe told him. "Are you saying that CD is pirated?" he asked in disbelief. 

Duncan sighed. "Sorry," he replied sheepishly. "I tend to talk nonsense when I'm worried. I think I'll start from the beginning." 

"Good idea," Joe agreed. 

"As you know, McGuire and me weren't buddy-buddy," Duncan began. 

"I've heard about that. He accused you for taking his ideas for that software that you have developed," Joe nodded. 

"I think his accusation was baseless. I mean, what McGuire had developed wasn't a new idea either. It has been used long before of what he had produced. And what I did was just improving the old ideas," Duncan explained to Joe. "I don't see anything wrong with that. People do that all the time." 

"Maybe McGuire hated the fact of his software came out almost at the same time as yours?" Joe prompted. 

"Or he hated the fact that he had a competition," Duncan added with a slight grin. "He took it quite hard that he wasn't the numero uno guy in this field anymore." 

"So, he even challenged you on computer games?" Joe asked. 

Duncan raised his dark brows in surprise. "You know about that?" he asked. 

"Well, Mr. Bradley told us about it," Joe replied. "And we even checked in your computer," he added sheepishly. 

For a moment, Duncan looked as if he wanted to scold Joe, but finally, he just laughed. "I take it that you were looking clues of my whereabouts," he said. 

"Yeah, not that it helped much. There's nothing in your room that shows if you have any friends at all. I was beginning to think that you're an introvert or something," Joe replied with a grin. 

"It's hard for me to make new friends ever since I came out from detention," Duncan explained grimly. "Ever since my Mom died, I don't have anyone that I trust whom I could turn to for help," he went on. There was a distant look on his face as if he was remembering the hard time that he had experienced. "From that moment, I wanted to change my life for the better. So, I studied hard through high school, did some part time work, and applied for scholarships. I got turned down a lot of times. I was about to give up until I got a reply from Datatronics. I almost turned down that offer because I didn't know much about Datatronics. The company was only one year old that time," he explained. 

"But you did take it," Joe said. 

"I had to, and I'm glad I did," Duncan said in relief. "And I hope they don't sack me right now. I didn't show up for work today," he added worriedly. 

Joe couldn't imagine the difficulties that Duncan had been through. While Duncan was struggling with his life, Joe was breezing through his years in school without thinking of where the money came from, or where to get job to support his living. The thought made Joe conscious of other people who might be experiencing the same thing as Duncan's – or how he had taken everything in his life for granted. 

"People are going to talk when I started classes again," Duncan went on heavily. "Just like they did when they found out about my past. Those looks, and whispers…" 

"But you don't have to worry about that," Joe assured him. "You already have Lyn. She doesn't seem to bother much about your past." 

"She's different," Duncan replied with a sudden smile. "I don't know how to explain it, but…" 

"Don't worry, I get idea," Joe put in with a knowing grin. 

Duncan looked relieved. "Anyway, back to McGuire," his friend said with a sigh. "Bob had mentioned to me once that he accidentally had found some of ElectroSoft's software being sold in a cheap warehouse sale in Riverside a month ago," Duncan told him, "Only the invited ones knew about its existence." 

"Sounds like someone didn't want it to be widely known," Joe commented. 

"Yes, that's what made Bob suspicious. However, he managed to get hold of a copy of that software," he went on. "And guess what?" 

"What?" 

"The software that he bought isn't in the market, yet. It's supposed to be out a couple of days from now," Duncan told him. 

"Are you saying that someone from ElectroSoft could have given out the program to an illegal dealer?" Joe asked him. 

"Right, and I think Bob had suspicion on someone, but he wouldn't tell me who it was. He wanted to be sure before he could name any names," Duncan replied thoughtfully. 

"Hmm, that sounds something like Frank would do. He would always tell his ideas until it's almost too late," Joe remarked, shaking his head. 

"So, anyway, I happened to stumble on that warehouse myself yesterday after I did a little searching. Those guys who sell these things are pretty suspicious of newcomers. I had to talk my way just to get one software," Duncan added. He reached out for a CD on the coffee table that was lying beside the laptop. He handed it to Joe. 

"Hey, this looks exactly like the one you've given me," Joe remarked. 

"It is the same program," Duncan acknowledged. "It's a good thing Lyn brought her laptop here yesterday," he said. "I can check out the program myself." 

"You managed to figure out the program? Frank couldn't even get it started on his computer," Joe told him in surprise. 

"That's because you need a dongle for it, but in this case, you don't have to. There's already a file inside this CD you can use to override the dongle," Duncan explained. 

"Huh?" Joe asked in bewilderment. 

Duncan quickly explained about the use of the dongle and its significance. "You only have to plug it into one of the computer ports and your program will start properly," he finished. 

"Wow, that means someone is really desperate to cover his operation," Joe mused. "I think we need to check on more on ElectroSoft's employees. But I need to know what happened on the day McGuire was murdered. What were you doing at McGuire's house on that day?" he asked, turning to Duncan. 

"He called me and wanted to meet me, but when I arrived there, he was already dead. I guess, I panicked and ran," Duncan replied with a troubled look. "You've caught me that day when I was about to head back to Riverside. I was also running away from Mr. Bauer's spies. I was afraid if he had sent his spies or the police to follow me." 

"What about the letter McGuire had sent you? What can you make out of it?" Joe asked curiously. "Do you know who Wirth is?" 

Duncan shook his head. "Aside from the CD, no. I'm not sure why Bob wrote the note if he knew I didn't know a guy named Wirth. But that's the problem with Bob. He expected everyone to know what he was thinking," he said in frustration. 

"You sure know a lot," Joe commented, "Why don't you turn yourself in, and tell your side of the story to the police?" he suggested. 

Duncan hesitated. "I don't know, Joe," he said. "If you haven't forgotten, someone's trying to frame me here. I don't want to go to jail. You've already known I used to be in detention – and that one time is enough for me. I don't want to go through something like that again." 

"But I think Joe's right, Duncan," Lyn suddenly said. She was standing at the kitchen doorway. "How long are you going to keep hiding?" she pointed out. She walked into the living room. 

"Come on, we can help you clear your name. We can go to the police right after this," Joe coaxed Duncan. 

Duncan was silent for a few moments, frowning thoughtfully. "I guess you're right," he replied finally with a resigned sigh. He sat down on the sofa. 

"Of course he's right," Lyn spoke up, sitting beside him. "I'll give you a knock on the head if you refuse." 

Duncan grimaced. "All right, all right. I don't want to get another black-eye from you," he told his wife. 

"She gave you a black-eye?" Joe gaped at his friend, who looked sheepish. 

"Oh, only when his ego gets too big," Lyn replied with a laugh. "Thanks to my black-belt in karate." 

"Whoa, I'm not going to mess with you," Joe joked. "I'm glad my girlfriend, Vanessa, doesn't punch me like that," Joe said, referring to his girlfriend, Vanessa Bender. "And I'd better keep her away from you, Lyn. She might be getting ideas if she hangs out with you." 

"Hmmm, this sounds like fun," Lyn said with an evil glee. "I could teach her some things on how to handle guys who got too much machismo in them." 

Duncan rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "Oh, brother," he said. Then he stood up and went to get his leather jacket from the closet. "Come on, let's get going then," he said to Joe. 

Joe agreed and followed behind him. "Nice to meet you, Lyn," he said to the young woman. He had to admit Lyn was a nice person – not like her stuck-up father. 

"Me, too. Be careful, guys," she told them and gave a quick kiss to Duncan. "Call me if you need some help," she said before the guys went out. 

The two guys headed toward the Hardy's van. Joe hadn't managed to unlock the van when a black car suddenly pulled to a stop behind the van. 

Joe tensed when he recognized the car. It was the same one that had tailed him this afternoon. A couple of menacing looking men in dark clothes climbed out of the car pointing their Uzis at Joe and Duncan.


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13 

Frank Hardy slammed down the receiver for the umpteenth time. He had tried calling Joe for almost an hour now. 

"No one home?" Phil asked, raising his eyebrows. Frank had gone straight to Phil's after following Con to McGuire's house. He hoped to learn more about the program in the CD. He had made a copy of the CD before giving the original one to Con. 

Frank just shook his head. "I hope he's not in trouble," he said, trying not to sound too worried. "He should have been back home by now." 

"Did you call at home or the van?" Phil asked. 

"Both." 

"Maybe he stopped somewhere for lunch, and forgotten about the time," Phil guessed. 

"Or maybe he got distracted by a pretty waitress and forgotten everything," Frank added with a grin. Then he turned serious. "But that doesn't sound like him. He'd always call if he's going to be late." 

Frank started pacing around the basement like a caged tiger. _Where could he be? Is he all right? Has something happened to him? What if he's d – Stop!_ He ordered himself sternly. _I'm not going anywhere if I keep on going like this._

"Did you find out anything else from the program?" Frank asked, trying to keep his mind away from Joe. 

"If what you said about piracy is true," Phil started, "then there should be some kind of 'earmark' in this version, which would pinpoint the leak." 

"And?" 

"We have to check it with ElectroSoft's database and compared it. But I should warn you that it won't pinpoint exactly to the exact person," Phil told him. 

"But it narrows down to a few people," Frank said. "That should help I suppose." He stopped pacing. He found himself standing in front of Phil's bookcase. He just gave a glance at the books, without really looking. "I just wished Joe would call. I'm dying to find out what he's got so far." 

Frank unconsciously picked a book from the shelf. Pascal programming, he read the title of the book. He just leafed through it without any interest. "Maybe Joe's in trouble. I can't help but feel something's wrong," he went on. 

"Maybe you should check the place he's supposed to be," Phil suggested. 

"But I want to wait for the names," Frank said. 

"It's going to take a while," Phil said. "When it's ready I'll send it to you and Con." 

After debating to himself, Frank finally agreed to check on Joe. "All right," he said. As he placed back the book on the shelf, a sudden idea hit him hard. 

"Phil, I think I know who Wirth is!" 

*** 

In the meantime, Joe and Duncan were pushed into the backseat of the black car. After closing the door, the two men climbed the car in the front. 

Someone else was already sitting in the backseat, pointing a gun at them when Duncan and Joe sat down. Joe immediately recognized the person. 

"You!" Duncan cried to the person before Joe could say anything. 

"What's going on?" Joe demanded. He was sitting between Duncan and the familiar-looking man, who was holding the gun. 

Slowly, the car started moving toward the street. 

"I can't believe you, after all these years," Duncan continued. Joe was surprised to see the hatred look in Duncan's eyes. 

"You know Red Lewis?" Joe asked Duncan, in surprise. 

But no one seemed to be answering his question. 

"Nice to see you again, my boy. Do you know how hard it is to find you? I got lucky when I spotted this kid's van," Lewis sneered at Duncan as he jabbed his thumb at Joe. His voice filled with sarcasm. 

Joe couldn't believe his ears. _My boy?_

"What's going on here, Duncan? How do you know Red Lewis?" Joe asked, looking confused. Now that he looked at it, he could see some resemblance between Duncan and Red Lewis. Except for a scar across Lewis's forehead, both of them had the identical gray eyes, and almost the same handsome features. 

Duncan finally turned to Joe. "This man's real name is Ware Peterson. He is – or was," he looked at Lewis with a disgusted look, "my father." 

"But your last name is Blackwell," Joe pointed in confusion. 

"My mom decided to change back to her maiden name after _Dad_ left home when I was ten," Duncan explained. "He never really cares about his family, and I wasn't aware that he has different names – or what he does for a living either." 

"Oh, boy," Joe let out his breath in a rush, "First, Lyn's dad is onto you, now your own dad," he said. "How many more out there who wants your head, Duncan?" 

"The police," Lewis piped up. "The gun I put in your drawer was very handy." 

"You killed McGuire!" Duncan said accusingly. 

"You framed your own son? Why?" Joe asked Lewis in surprise. 

"Why? I'll tell you why – McGuire knew too much. I've got to get rid of him to protect someone else's reputation – and mine," Lewis growled. "And it's just a coincidence that McGuire's rival happened to be Duncan. He's the easy target to get blamed. So, I pretended to be McGuire when I called Duncan to meet McGuire at his home." 

"So that Duncan would be caught with a dead man," Joe finished. 

"How clever of you, Hardy!" Lewis said sarcastically. "A little birdy told me you were working on the murder case," he explained when he caught Joe's surprised look. 

"And I bet you were the anonymous caller," Joe went on. 

"All right, enough chit-chat!" Lewis ordered. He pulled out another gun from his jacket and pointed each one toward Joe and Duncan. "Where's the disk?" he demanded. 

Duncan and Joe exchanged puzzled looks. Joe began to look tense. 

"What disk?" Joe asked. 

"Don't play games with me, pretty boy," Lewis warned. "One foolish move and I'll have you two zotzed." 

Joe could tell he meant what he said. And judging from the way Lewis handled the gun, he could guess the man had killed before – and he wouldn't hesitate to do that now either. 

"You're even going to kill your own son?" Joe asked, stalling for time. 

"He never was my son ever since I walked out of the house," Lewis said casually, as if they were deciding which tree to cut. 

"We have no love lost here," Duncan put in curtly. 

"Well?" Lewis demanded. "Where is the disk?" he repeated, his voice hardening. 

"If this is what you want, you can have it!" Duncan pulled out the ElectroSoft's CD from his jacket and tossed it at Lewis. 

"That's not what I want – I've got thousands of them at my place," Lewis snapped. "I want the other disk!" 

"Then, we don't know what you're talking about 'cos we don't have it," Duncan told him simply. 

A backhand across his face was a response he got from Lewis. Blood trickled at the corner of his lips, and Duncan wiped it away with his sleeve. 

"Hey!" Joe cried, pushing Lewis away from Duncan. "He said he doesn't know." 

The gun instantly was pressed against Joe's neck. "Don't even move, Blondie," Lewis warned. "Will!" he called his driver. "Get this flivver back to our joint. Looks like we have some screws to tighten here," he said with a devilish look on his face.


	14. Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14 

Frank Hardy arrived home after getting evidence from Wirth. As he stuffed his keys into his pocket, he checked the answering machine to see if there were any messages from Joe. There was one message, but it wasn't from Joe. 

"Frank, call me back. We might have some information here," Con's voice filled the quiet room. 

Frowning, Frank wondered what had happened. He hoped it wasn't a bad news on Joe. He quickly called Con. 

"What's up, Con?" Frank demanded after Con answered the phone. 

"I think Joe and Duncan might be in trouble," Con told him. 

"What? How do you know?" Frank asked, feeling dread. 

"Mrs. Blackwell reported it to me. She's here at the station right now." 

"Mrs. Blackwell?" Frank startled. 

"Duncan's wife – Marilyn Bauer Blackwell," Con explained. 

Frank's head went swimming taking all the information at once. He wondered if his ears were playing tricks on him. "Wow," was all he could say. "What did really happen?" he asked finally. 

Con told Frank how Joe had managed to find Lyn, and Duncan in Riverside. "She told me her husband and Joe were on their way to see me. But when she went out of her apartment an hour later to throw some trash, she noticed the van is still there. She called the police and I told her to come here." 

"Someone must have kidnapped them," Frank said. "I think I know who - I hope it's not Mr. Bauer. In fact, I'm about to see you and give you the proof." 

"You have the proof?" Con sounded surprise. 

"Yes, from Wirth," Frank replied cryptically. "I'll tell you later. We need to get Joe and Duncan back, if they are really in danger," he added quickly. 

"And I suppose you know where they are right now?" Con asked. 

"Yes," Frank replied and quickly told him the address. "I hope I'm right about the place." 

"That's in Riverside," Con noted. "How do you know about this?" he demanded. 

"From the proof," Frank replied simply. "For short, everything about the software piracy operation is in there, including the person or persons involved. You won't believe what I've discovered. It also tied with the case you're investigating." 

"What?" 

"I'll give you later. I need to get my brother back," Frank promised quickly before he hung up. 

*** 

"I know this place," Duncan said to Joe when they stepped out of the black Ford. 

"What's this place?" Joe asked, looking at the old warehouse. Lewis had taken them to the warehouse at the edge of Riverside. 

"It's where I got the pirated software," Duncan said. "This is the place McGuire had mentioned." 

"All right, move it you two," Lewis ordered, pointing the two guns at his captives. He motioned them to go into the warehouse. 

Duncan and Joe cautiously stepped into the dim interior of the warehouse. Then the two Lewis's henchmen entered and closed the door behind them. 

"What are you going to do with us?" Joe asked Lewis, playing dumb. 

"Move on," Lewis ordered again ignoring Joe's question. He pushed them toward the dim interior. Then he placed one of his guns into his jacket. 

The room went bright, as someone had switched on the lights. There were wooden crates stacked at one side of the large room. Joe wondered if those crates contained guns or pirated software. At the back end of the room was a large machine with a stack of about thousands of CDs on it. Joe guessed this might be the copying machine for the CDs. 

At the moment, someone came out from a door that led to an office. Joe was surprised to see the newcomer, who was coming out of the room. 

"Well, well, looks like we have some unexpected companies here," the man sneered. 

"So, it was you all along," Joe burst out angrily. "How did you two get to work together? A smuggler and a pirate – what a combination," he went on flatly. 

"Let's just say we've known each other through a common contact," George Hayworth replied simply. "Tie them up," he commanded to the two henchmen. 

One of the henchmen, Will, a dark haired muscular man, grabbed Joe and pushed him toward a wooden chair. He pulled out his rope and bounded Joe to the chair with his arms at the back. The other man, a blond guy, did the same to Duncan. When the two guys were done, Lewis and Hayworth stood before Joe and Duncan. The two henchmen were standing on either side of their captives. 

"All right, where is the disk now?" Lewis demanded. 

"We don't know what you're talking about," Joe said. "If you describe it to us maybe we can remember about it." 

Lewis looked at Duncan levelly. "We know McGuire had been contacting Duncan here. He had to give something to him before he died. McGuire knew George had known about his snooping." Then he turned to Joe with a cold hard stare. "I even saw Duncan came to your house, Hardy. So, the disk has to be with either one of you." 

"So, you were the one who's been tailing me," Duncan said with a scowl. 

"Even if he had given me the disk, that doesn't mean it has something to do with your operation," Joe retorted. 

"Oh, come on, I've found out Bob had been breaching my computer and copied everything about the operation. He even threatened me the day before he died to come clean or he'll report it to the police," Hayworth said with a stern look toward Duncan and Joe. 

"If I'd known what it was, I'd give it to you now," Duncan said flatly. 

"I'd wish you didn't record everything of our operation in your computer," Lewis suddenly grumbled to Hayworth. "See what this has gotten us into now?" 

"You have to keep track of everything if one of our customers is cheating on us," Hayworth pointed out in annoyance. "And the police wouldn't come looking for you if you didn't sell those weapons here. I thought we have agreed not to sell weapons and the software at the same time!" 

"Hey, I needed the money," Lewis pointed out in anger. Then he suddenly turned to Duncan and glared. "And since you're still not telling…" he said threateningly as he signaled the blond guy who was standing next to Duncan with a nod. Without warning, the Blond punched Duncan toward his midsection. Duncan grunted in pain. 

"Hey! Don't you guys understand what we just said? We don't know any disk, and you're wasting your time with us!" Joe snapped. He had to think fast to get away from these maniacs. _But how?_ If only he had called Frank before he left the apartment. But it's too late now, he thought grimly. His hands started wriggling against the tight knot. No use – he couldn't even move an inch. 

"Maybe we're not trying hard enough!" Hayworth said to Lewis. 

"I know how," Lewis said with an evil grin. He turned to the dark haired guy, who was standing next to Joe. "Will, do your thing," he ordered. 

The guy named Will pulled out a lethal-looking army knife from his jacket. He looked menacingly at Joe as he held it out. Joe gulped nervously as the sharp tip of the knife glinting against Will's broad face hideously. 

"Uh, you're not going to kill me are you?" Joe asked weakly. 

"We'll see. You cooperate or die," Lewis said cryptically. "I don't hire Will here for nothing, you know. He has developed a special skill when he used to work in the army – especially on handling stubborn people." 

"Uh – Before you do anything, maybe you could tell us how Hayworth got tied in all this? After all, he already has a successful software company," Joe put in quickly. Anything to stall time, he thought. _Time for what?_ He decided to ignore that question for the moment. 

"Hmm, all right. After all, you won't be able to tell it anyone after we're done with you," Lewis said with a smirk. "In fact, I'll make it short and sweet," he suddenly said, as if knowing what Joe was thinking. "It's not really complicated." 

Joe felt his heart sank. _Maybe that was a stupid question!_

"Maybe I should explain it," Hayworth spoke up. 

Lewis just shrugged. "Suit yourself." 

Hayworth turned to Joe. "As you know, my company's losing money – very badly, I had to take some extra measures to get more money," he explained. 

"Like making pirate software?" Joe prompted, hoping he sounded calm. 

He shrugged. "Something like that," he replied vaguely. 

"I think he got the idea, Hayworth," Lewis interrupted rudely with an impatient wave. "Let's not waste anymore time. Will," he ordered his accomplice simply. 

Joe hadn't a chance to reply when Will suddenly stabbed Joe with the knife.


	15. Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15 

Frank Hardy climbed out of his mother's car as soon as he made a hasty stop. He was now in Riverside, and according to the address that he had discovered, he guessed the warehouse across the street was the place. The warehouse looked as if it hadn't been used for years. A perfect place for any criminal activities, he thought grimly. 

He jogged until he reached the front gate of the warehouse. He carefully surveyed the surroundings. There seemed to be no one in sight. There was a large blue eighteen-wheeler, and a black Ford parked in front of the building. 

Even though the place was quiet, Frank couldn't help feeling uneasy in the pit of his stomach. He wondered whether it could be that he was walking into a trap, or something had happened to his brother. He hoped it was none of the above. 

When he was satisfied that he was alone, he stealthily jogged to the side of the warehouse. There were some old wooden crates stacked against the side of the wall. About eight feet above him, he could see a square grimy window. The window wasn't large, but judging from its dimension, he still could manage to squeeze through it. 

Without wasting anymore time, he carefully arranged the crates until he could reach the window. A moment later, he was already on top of the crate. He was relieved to see the window was slightly ajar, but he still couldn't see what was inside the building. He used the sleeve of his shirt and wiped circularly against the grime. 

Frank could almost see the interior of the room. It seemed he was looking into an office, and from the looks of it, the place seemed deserted. The door that led to the room was opened. But when he surveyed the room carefully – noticing the messy desk with some papers and a PC on it, and a gray metal cabinet in one corner of the room – he could tell someone had already occupied the warehouse. 

Time to check things out, Frank thought as he pushed the window inside. The window was tight and he had to use his every strength just to move an inch. It felt like forever before he finally managed to get the space that he needed to climb inside. By this time, he was already sweating heavily. 

He checked his pocket to make sure the proof was still there. So far so good, he thought. As he was about to climb inside, he heard a terribly familiar scream coming through the opened doorway. _Joe!_ A feeling of dread washed over him. _Oh, no! I'm too late!_

*** 

"No!" Duncan shouted. 

"Argh!" Joe gasped. Beads of cold sweat started to form on his forehead. He clenched his teeth in pain as the knife plunged into his left thigh. 

"You don't have to do that!" Duncan protested angrily. He looked horrified at the sight of Joe's blood seeping through the jeans. 

The blade penetrated deeply into the flesh. Joe tried all he could to muster his will from screaming in pain. He wouldn't give these morons a satisfaction of it. 

"Now, let's play 'Twist the Blade'," Lewis said with a smug grin that made Joe sick inside. "If Duncan wouldn't answer, Joe will get the golden opportunity to be the object of the game. Got it?" 

Duncan looked on helplessly at Joe and nodded. "All right, all right, I'll tell you!" Duncan fibbed, his tone hardening. He started twisting against the rope. 

"Oh, really?" Lewis said simply with raised eyebrows. "You're being too easy now." 

At the same time, Will started twisting the blade inside the flesh, as if he was putting on a screw with a screwdriver. Joe squirmed and twisted on his chair. His breathing became uneven. The pain was unbearable. It was like having a driller moving into the flesh. 

"I have the thing that you're looking for," a new voice suddenly echoed inside the large room. 

Joe was relieved when he heard the familiar voice. Maybe there's a chance to escape this after all, he thought hopefully. 

Frank suddenly appeared from the office that Hayworth had come from. Joe figured he must have sneaked inside through a window. He wondered where Frank had been when he noticed some dirt on his brother's shirt. 

"Frank Hardy, it's nice of you to join us here," Hayworth said. 

"Will, Ace, check outside. See if there're any cops out there," Lewis commanded to his henchmen. 

Will looked disappointed that he couldn't continue with his current task. He reluctantly pulled the blade off Joe and walked outside of the building with Ace. Joe felt like a burden had been lifted off his shoulders. 

"I'm alone," Frank told them as he approached them slowly. 

"We can't be too sure of that," Lewis countered. He pointed his gun at Frank. "All right, give us the disk." 

Frank stood in front of the two men. "OK," he said, reaching inside his shirt pocket. He pulled out a floppy diskette and tossed it toward Lewis in one quick motion. 

Taken by surprise, Lewis frantically tried to catch the disk. Frank took the opening to whip out his leg in a karate kick. His foot landed against Lewis's throat. 

"Oof!" Lewis gasped as he staggered backward, clutching his neck in pain. His gun dropped to the floor, and Frank picked it up quickly. 

"Will! Ace!" Hayworth yelled. He quickly scrambled down to pick up the disk on the floor. As if realizing something, he turned to Frank in anger. "This is not the disk! What McGuire had obtained is more than two Megabytes of memory." 

"Don't move," Frank warned, pointing the gun at both men. 

Hayworth raised up his hands nervously. Lewis was on the floor, struggling to get up. He reached into his jacket and pulled out another gun – but Frank was too quick for him as he swiped it with his leg. The gun flew from Lewis's grip and landed across the room. Lewis was enraged. He suddenly looked helpless without both of his guns. 

Still training the gun on the men, Frank quickly stepped behind Duncan and started untying the ropes around his body and legs. 

"Here, Duncan, take this," Frank gave him the gun. "I want to check on Joe," he said and turned to his brother. 

"No problem," Duncan replied eagerly, taking the gun from Frank. 

"What took you so long? I could have lost a leg here," Joe complained with an effort to smile as Frank untied him. His face had gone pale. He clutched his wounded leg as he stood up slowly. He gingerly tested the leg. The look on his face showed enough to know that he was in pain. 

"I'm very sorry about that, Joe. I tried to get here as fast as I could," Frank said looking concern over his brother. "You lost a lot of blood," he checked the wound. It was very deep. Frank immediately tore a piece of cloth from his shirt and tied it around Joe's leg. 

A group of men suddenly burst through the front door. Frank and Joe tensed, but immediately relieved when they noticed Con and his men at the doorway. 

"Look whom we've got here," Con said as two of the police officers held Will and Ace in their custody. "They tried to run away when we arrived." 

"We've got more here," Frank said pointing to Hayworth and Lewis, who looked defeated. Con immediately signaled his men to get Hayworth and Lewis. After reading their rights, the two criminals were handcuffed. 

"You finally made it," Joe said to Con. 

"Are you all right?" Con asked in concern, looking at the bloodied leg. "We need a paramedic here!" he shouted to his colleagues. 

"I'm fine, Con," Joe replied with a weak smile. His teeth clenched. 

"I got held up at the station. Mr. Bauer came and wanted to charge Blackwell of kidnapping," Con explained. "That's why we're a bit late." 

"I thought he didn't want to go to the police," Frank said in surprise. 

"Am I being charged?" Duncan asked worriedly. He walked over to them. 

"No, you're not. We've dropped all charges against you. Your wife was there and explained everything to me and her father," Con replied. 

Duncan looked relieved. "Good old, Lyn," he said with a smile. 

"I'll bet Mr. Bauer wasn't too happy when he hears that Lyn is already married to Duncan," Joe commented thoughtfully. 

"You got that right," Con agreed. 

"This is going to take some time for him to adjust, I guess," Duncan admitted with a wry smile. "Oh, I'd better tell Mrs. Streetman that I'm going to move out." 

"She's going to miss you a lot," Joe remarked. 

"Me, too. She's been helpful to me, after all the trouble I've got her into," Duncan agreed, feeling guilty. "But I've got to move on with my life." 

Then Con turned to Frank. "Now, where's the evidence?" he demanded. 

"Oh, right," Frank said sheepishly as he reached into his jeans. He pulled out a bunch of keys and pulled out a keyring. It was shaped like a small penknife. Frank handed it to Con. 

"That's the evidence?" Joe asked incredulously, momentarily forgotten about his injury. 

"It's a memory stick!" Duncan exclaimed. "It may be small but it has sixteen megabytes of memory inside it," he explained. 

"I think McGuire thought about that. He decided to use something inconspicuous to hide the information," Frank theorized. 

"What a genius! No wonder Hayworth and Lewis couldn't find it," Duncan said. 

"Is this what you've got from Wirth?" Con asked. 

"You found out who Wirth is?" Joe asked Frank at the same time. 

His brother nodded. "If you recall back, McGuire liked to name his computers, and he had a new one which hasn't got a name yet," Frank told him. "And I found this plugged into the new computer in McGuire's room," Frank told them. "And I almost missed it, too." 

"Of course, and how did you come about with the name?" Con asked. 

"I had the idea accidentally. Actually, it happened after I looked at Phil's programming book. Wirth is the guy who designed Pascal programming language. I guess McGuire put that name on as a last-minute idea. After all he was programming with Pascal before he died," he explained quickly. 

"Why didn't he use the name that's already there? That would save us the trouble," Con grumbled. 

"I guess he was cautious – especially if the culprit was someone McGuire knew, might get his hand on the note or the proof," Frank told him. "Everything about the software piracy operation is in the evidence that I've found – including the address of this warehouse," he went on. "Apparently, Hayworth was also dealing the gun-running operation with a guy named W. Peterson. All of this started about five years ago – almost the same time ElectroSoft is losing money." 

"Hmm, that's news to me," Con admitted. "That's also about the same time Lewis started his own gun running operation," he suddenly pointed out, thoughtfully. 

"Ware Peterson a.k.a. Red Lewis," Duncan confirmed the name with a disgusted look. 

Frank and Con stared at him in surprise. Duncan just gave a wry smile. "It's a long story," he replied simply. 

"Now, we can go back to the station for statements. I want to hear the whole story from each of you," Con told them firmly. "But first we need to send Joe to the hospital." 

"I can't thank you enough for clearing my name," Duncan told the Hardys sincerely. 

"Hey, no problem. I'm glad Joe dragged me on this case. I've learned a lot of things from it," Frank said, smiling. "Joe is convinced you didn't do the murder from start." 

"I told you my gut feeling is right," Joe couldn't help saying. "Duncan really came a long way to finally get where he wants to be now." He patted Duncan on his shoulder. 

"Thanks for the support, Joe," Duncan said with a grateful smile. "But I'm just glad this thing with McGuire is over now," Duncan said. 

"I know," Joe agreed in relief. All he wanted to do now was getting his leg fully recovered. At the moment, his leg felt like as if it would crash into pieces. 

"Aside from your background, you're not that bad after all, Schwarzebrunnen," Frank added with a laugh. 

"I can't believe you could figure out the name," Duncan said in surprise. 

_"Es ist ziemlich leicht, wenn Sie einige deutschen Wörter wissen_," Frank replied. 

"_Nicht schlecht!_" Duncan replied with a nod of approval. 

"Guys, come on! Help me outta here. You can practice your Deutsch later," Joe complained. "I'm not going to wait for the paramedics." 

"I'll send you there right away," Frank assured him. 

"Thanks, bro," Joe replied in relief. 

Frank and Duncan helped Joe, who was limping on one leg, walked toward the front door. "Can we finally have a real vacation after this?" he asked his brother. 

"Sure, as long as you stay put in bed," Frank quipped. "I'm just not sure how I'm going to explain about your condition to Mom and Dad when they got back from Florida." 

THE END.


End file.
